With You Everything Is Different
by Sweetatoo
Summary: He's rich, handsome, arrogant, and sometimes couldn't care less of the consequences of his actions, but possesses a warm heart. She's poor, pretty, mysterious, but possesses a cold heart. Is it fate that they meet?
1. Pizza Hut?

**Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Code Geass**.

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"I don't know…."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just…tired, that's all."  
"Come on, don't be a lazy-ass at time like this!"

The young teen raked his hand through his raven hair with a frustrated look on his face. He _really _didn't like where this was going.

"just go without me," he said evenly, and stopped short as he heard some shuffling sound in the background on the other end.

"Give me the phone Suzaku!" A female's voice. And she sounded pissed.

His eyebrow was raised ever so slightly.

"Wait," the said boy answered as he tried to push her off of him to no avail. "Just give me a second—a second!"

A huff and then everything was quite again.

"Thank you," Suzaku muttered before resuming the conversation with his friend.

"That's Shirley for you," Lelouch smirked tauntingly even though he knew Suzaku couldn't see it in anyways.

The other boy grunted something incoherently but along the lines of "Thanks to you…" before clearing his throat. "So as I was saying, if you can make up one damned _good _reason why you're so tired and couldn't go, then I won't go there and drag you back."

Lelouch's left eye twitched. "You don't even know where I am…"

"Oh trust me, I have resources," he said with that mixed confidence and evilness in his tone.

He really didn't like where this was going at all.

What could he say now? Seriously, Lelouch Lamberouge was one of the richest boys in the entire town. His parents were the heads of the most famous jewel-making company. Their money flowed in like water, literally. Even if they were to spend most of it away, it would soon find its way back to its appropriate owners, as if it were a very living thing. In other words, the Lamberouge family had never been short on money, or any luxurious stuff or even people in the house.

Lelouch always had servants to do things for him, such as bringing meals up to his room whenever he's being too lazy and wouldn't bother going downstairs. Doing his laundry (hell even folding the clothes for him), making his bed, driving him anywhere 24/7 without complaints. Some of the poor servants were even the objects for him to pour his anger out. Usually they would have to sit tight and brace themselves for whatever was about to befall, or rarely they would just get a cold short speech "You're fired. Now get out of here immediately." Needless to say all of them rather preferred the former; at least they would still have a job, and could live in the most gorgeous mansion ever in the history of mansions.

Lelouch frowned as he searched his brain for the most appropriate excuse, but as a genius he was, he just couldn't come up with a single one that Suzaku would find logical.

I'm doomed…all I ever do is lounging in the house, he thought desperately. Come on, there must be something—

"I see you can't," his friend interrupted his thoughts flatly and matter-of-factly.

The raven-haired teen could actually picture him looking impatient but amused at the same time.

"…."

"Don't bother trying, Lelouch," Suzaku replied with a sigh. "I'll try my best to make up something _creative…"_

"What! Lulu is _not _coming!" A high shriek echoed loudly. Lelouch winced as he had to pull the phone out a little bit if he wished not to go deaf.

"You owe me one—big time," the other boy whispered hastily before pressing the 'hang up' button abruptly.

Lelouch suddenly felt bad for Suzaku; his mind currently contemplating the consequences of what he had just done. It's not like he could have a way out of this so easily himself, but at least he could stall while the other could not. And whatever that the brown-haired teen was about to meet was definitely, if not beyond horrific.

He didn't want this to happen at all, but he had no choice now, had he?

Ah, I do. But that's what best friends are for, Lelouch thought, smiling slightly. Feeling too exhausted all of a sudden with that little chaos, he lazily threw the phone over to the side as a small sigh escaped his lips.

And that's when he noticed his stomach growling violently, demanding for foods.

But he was too sick of all of those fancy restaurants where all he ever received was stares and more stares. Surely the foods were amazing and well-prepared with all the fabulous decorations here and there, but with the lovesick, puppy-looks that he got from the girls there just made him lose his appetite almost immediately.

How can anyone, _anyone_ enjoy their meals when they feel like they are being watched closely? He mused.

Not to mention he wouldn't even feel comfortable when having a conversation with anyone with the knowledge of strangers might eavesdrop on it.

Rich people—no to be precise, _most _of the rich girls really should get a life. They just had too much free time on their hands to do something incredibly annoying.

So who cares if this party is hosted by Kaguya, Lelouch thought as he slumped deeper into the cushions of his black and ever-so-shiny limousine. He had no desires to go _anywhere _tonight anyway, but since the crew was so ready and wouldn't want to waste their time to listen to his protests, he had no choice but to run away somewhere for the time being.

"Sir," a voice sounded from the front, pulling him out of his reveries. It was his own chauffeur's. "Where would you like to go now?"

Lelouch slumped even further into the cushions as he put his chin on his palm, seeming to be deep in thoughts. _Now where should I go….? Oh bingo!_

"Kano, why don't you take me to a restaurant where you usually go?"

A short hesitation…

"Well…sir. I didn't know you would prefer…._common_ place."

His master's eye twitched. _Do I seem to have another option here?_

"Don't worry about it," Lelouch said lazily. "I just want to get out of here a bit. So where can you take me?"

The chauffeur sounded all excited all of a sudden. "Pizza Hut!"

_Piz—Pizza Hut? Why does that sound so familiar? _He was pretty sure he had heard of it sometime in the commercials on televisions, but he was too impatient to bother finishing watching it. All he knew was that they make pizzas there. But the restaurant didn't look so fancy itself…

But to keep his promise to Kano, he nodded, "All right, let's go."

* * *

"What can I help you with?" A girl said while looking down at a flyer, which had a big pizza in the middle with some strange, medium red circles on it. Also with some yellow sort of sticky fluid plastered underneath them. It looked really hot as if it had just been gotten out of the oven. There was actually some streams emerging from that pizza.

What bugged Lelouch the most was the stickers of some sort of _thing_ here and there all over the flyer. They looked entirely yellow, except for the black lines of the sleeping eyes, one cheesy smile and a hat on one side of their heads. Those were everywhere around the slice of the pizza and they made his eyes wanting to pop out.

But he immediately thought of a pillow since the thing looked just like a medium-length pillow, only with arms sticking out, and no legs. To his surprise, he was finding that ridiculous-looking thing amusing and interesting. _How did that happen!_

"Well? What can I help you with?" The girl at the cashier repeated, finally looked up to stare at him with impatience evident in her tone.

"Huh? Oh," he cleared his throat quickly and was about to answer her when he realized he had no idea what to order.

Lelouch really regretted that he didn't bring Kano with him. But he didn't want to run out and drag him in. No, that would be humiliating.

His violet orbs traveled about quickly and up at the big food-menu-board on top of the girl's head. There were just so many, and he's getting confused. What to get was the only thought running wildly in his mind. So much for a genius.

Finally and desperately he looked down at the flyer in front of him, and saw three words that would save him from this mess.

"I would like a large Pepperoni-and-Cheese Pizza." He said with absolute pride, as if challenging her to make fun of him.

But she said nothing other than "That would be 10 dollars." as she punched in the numbers.

10 dollars? He thought, that was cheap. And pulled out the money to give it to her.

"I'll be right back," she said.

As the girl turned on her heels to walk into the kitchen, Lelouch exhaled and turned around, leaning on the counter.

The shop was surprisingly empty with only a few couple of people here and there in the corners. Is it always like this? He thought. Usually the famous, five-stars restaurants were really crowded at nights, but there's no worry about not being able to find an available table, since the Lamperouge name was always at the top of the top-priority-list.

He smiled slightly as he noticed none of the customers paying any attention to what he's doing. He's been having too much attention ever since he turned into a natural charismatic, handsome boy. He couldn't help what he had become, but a break from it wouldn't hurt, would it?

Well, one of the things he liked about commoners was that they were too busy with their lives already that they didn't even feel like meddling in others' affairs. A satisfied smile crossed his face once more.

_It's really nice and quiet here…_

"Here you go sir," the cashier girl said tiredly as she put down the pizza box with a little more force than it needed.

Lelouch flinched at her action and his eyebrows furrowed. He felt as if his pride had just been wounded badly. No one dared to treat the Lamperouges like this. It was a disgrace.

But said girl paid him no mind as she leaned over the counter to read her flyer again, though not before giving the clock one quick glance. _Seriously, what is so interesting about that piece of paper? _

He could tell that she was tired and wanted to go home now, but still there's a customer in the house here.

He cleared his throat, "Hm, excuse me?"

She looked up with those expressionless golden eyes, "What is it?"

"I think you should be more polite."

"Depends on your definition of polite. Mine is not saying rude things _and_ not walking away from annoying conversations." She gave a small yawn. Oh how she wished she could just lie down on the bed while chewing on her favorite pizza. Also don't forget hugging Cheese-kun, she smirked happily at that thought.

Lelouch's left eye twitched. She sure knew how to play with words, and why she suddenly smiled like that would always remain as a mystery for as long as he lived.

Never mind that, he had more important issues here.

"I don't care what yours is. I'm the customer here and customer's your top priority." He said evenly, though there was a hint of anger and impatience in his voice.

To his greater surprise, she gave a dry laugh. "You don't look like you're from here, boya," she smirked tauntingly at his shocked face. "Maybe that's how it works in your own little world, but definitely not _here."_ She definitely emphasized the 'here' ever so clearly.

_OK, that's it!_

"I want to talk to your manager," the raven-haired teen demanded. He believed he had totally lost his cool, but he didn't care anymore.

And to both his anticipation and amusement, the girl's facial changed as quickly. She turned from slyness and enjoyment to absolutely horrified. No….I can't get fired now…at least not because of _this guy_, she thought desperately with wide eyes.

Bingo. He had hit the bull's eye.

As if on cue, the manager of the Pizza Hut walked out with a pile of papers in his hand, and met with the two teens.

"Oh, is there something th—" He stopped short as his eyes widened at Lelouch. The stare was really unnerving, he decided.

"Oh my god! If it isn't' the famous Lelouch Lamperouge!" The older man cried out happily, and quickly skipped over.

OK, now _that_ is creepy, thought both the youngsters stunningly.

"What can I do for you? Are you satisfied with our service? Did C.C. here serve you well?" He asked too many questions at once that Lelouch had trouble registering them.

However, he didn't miss the name of the cashier— green-haired girl that looked so scared right now. _C.C…_

A smirk tugged his lips, "Well actually, I am _not_ happy. As you can see, miss C.C. was being very impolite. I suggest you train your employees better."

The man gave a loud shock as if he were in a soap opera, and turned on his heels to face the girl who was obviously trying to make an escape.

"You," he yelled. "How many times have I told you to stop with your monotone and that expressionless face and actually _smile!_"

C.C. shrank a little bit at the volume of his booming voice. Maybe the umpteenth time, she noted mentally to herself.

As she was about to either protest or apologize, the manager sighed exasperatedly as he put up his hand. "Enough," he said.

Lelouch grinned triumphantly. _Payback time._

"You're fired."

And the sly grin disappeared as quickly as it had come.

C.C.'s golden eyes suddenly sparked to life as they darted between the angry manager and the 'trouble-maker' Lelouch. Her pink lips parted slightly, and her pretty face showed some sort of expression when her eyes locked on the rich, so well-known boy's: bitterness. Lelouch suppressed the urge to gulp.

She apparently lost the ability to speak, so did the other teen.

He just wanted to scare her a bit, to teach her a lesson, but the her creepy manager had gone too far….

**A/N: **I've gotten this idea when I saw a lot of commercials of Pizza Hut on TV recently and it wouldn't leave me until i wrote it down, so here you go! Hope you liked it! There would be approximately 5-6 chapters, it's a short story afterall, and I'll try my best to upload the next one ASAP.


	2. The Walk Home

**A/N: Keeping characters in character is always my flaw...I realized that Lelouch was sort of OOC last time, so I tried my best to keep all of them, well in character. But it's kind of hard since ideas are just like flowing out lol. So please don't get mad or anything if there are some OOCness in this one....and since it's my flaw, I really couldn't tell whether they are or not....yes it's sad I know...so if there are some please tell me! I want to get better at this.  
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**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Code Geass and its awesome characters, but unfortunately I don't and never will.**

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"Hey, wait up!" Lelouch called out as he tried to catch up with the green-haired girl walking with lightning's speed in front of him.

Not only was it hard to try to run after someone whose strength was greater than his own, it was even harder try _not_ to step in some puddles and dirty his newly-ironed clothes when the last rays of the sun were nowhere to be seen. But he wasn't about to give up, not even when his heart was threatening to stop at any minute, his lungs wanting to explode if he were to keep up the little exercise.

He quickly did a calculation in his mind on the strides and the strength left before his body gave in to a halt completely. The distance between them didn't seem so grand, and so far the cashier—C.C. didn't break into the run yet, so if he just stretched his long legs a little bit further, he would make it. Four long strides at least, he thought, trying to reassure his aching body. _I should really consider working out after this…._

Just as he'd expected, with four long quick movements, he managed to grab the girl's elbow in one hand and forced her to stop.

C.C. gasped at the contact. Up until now, she was quite lost in her own world that she forgot entirely that there was someone else walking behind her. She wasn't the type to get distracted so easily, unless there was a Cheese-kun collection before her or a whole box of pizza luring her in, that's the only time C.C. _voluntarily_ let herself be sidetracked.

So the only reason that she didn't pay any attention to her surroundings today was simply because hell had just broken loose. That's the worst thing that could have happened to anyone.

Too lost in her thoughts that she couldn't hear or even see anything. However, it's reasonable that she could walk so steadily while she was in Lalala Land was because this street was all too familiar to her. Even if she were to be blind-folded, she could still be able to find her home with just a blink of an eye.

So when Lelouch interfered in with his grasp, he completely pulled her out of her dizzy trance and put her back into the reality.

Disregard of the girl's fragile frame, he spun her around forcefully to face him. And with a frustrated voice, he said. "Were you even listening to me?"

She only stared back at him with bored eyes. It took a while for her to get her cool composure back. "Why should I?" She asked challenging, trying to shake herself off him to no avail. His absolutely strong pride really compensated for his weak-looking, skinny body.

She knew he would never let her go without an answer.

"I believe I'm the one asking the questions here." He demanded.

"I will answer it if you answer my question first," she glared at him with annoyance.

"The 'why should I?' one?" One black eyebrow was raised slighly on his handsome face.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes. "That would just be a waste of time now wouldn't it? No, mine is that why are you still following me? After I told you to get lost for three times in a row!" She could feel she was losing her cool rapidly with each seconds passing by, but she was too tired to care.

To her most surprise, his grasp on her arm suddenly loosened and he finally let go. Then he just stared at her for a full minute, none of them bothered saying a word to save the silence.

Just when C.C. believed he'd given up and was going to walk away, he spoke up. "I know you're really mad at me now, to the point wanting to kill me-"

"Congratulations, you just read my mind," she interrupted with amusement as she leaned on the wall next to her right for support; she felt so dizzy all of a sudden. But she wouldn't let it show on her face or by her demeanors.

Lelouch fully expected this, he couldn't blame her though. He just got the poor girl fired for crying out loud, and as ignorant as he could be sometimes, he just couldn't let this pass. Why, he had no idea. Yet.

"OK look," he tried again as one hand was brought up to rake through his hair. One of the charming tactics from him to get all the girls melting right on the spot. But C.C. was different; she looked on stonily as he continued. "I…I didn't mean for it to happen like that. I mean, you have a fault in this too. If you were nicer, none of this would have happened."

If glaring could kill, C.C. was doing an awesome job, for Lelouch flinched a little under her hard gaze and had to look away. "My fault huh?" she commented with full anger now. "Your kind, the aristocratic ones, have no idea how real life works. All you ever do the whole day is lounging in the house, having people serve you meals, having silly, useless tea parties in the afternoons. Seriously, have you ever been outside your own fantastic fairy tales for once and actually observed the world?" She gave a small huff before finishing her speech "I can tell you one thing though, none of you would be able to last a day in the reality."

The raven-haired boy knew better than to interrupt a girl when she was irritated. More importantly, she was proving to be more intriguing than even before; among all the girls that he'd met, so far she was the only one not getting enchanted by his naturally-born charms, and definitely not afraid of voicing her own opinions on the classes that were way higher than her own. He smirked at that.

To be frank, C.C. was expecting him to explode right then and there, just like in the restaurant, but honestly she couldn't care less. She felt too tired and her head was throbbing horribly. She just wanted to get rid of him and get to bed as quickly as she could. So his smile totally caught her off guard.

"What's so funny?" She asked, her golden eyes narrowing.

He bent his head down a bit and laughed some more.

"You're more insane than I thought," she snorted before turning around in her house's direction.

"And you're exactly what I thought you would be," he said amusingly.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere boya. Just go home." She replied, waving him away. Nevertheless, deep down inside, she wondered what he meant by that. Not my business though, she'd remind herself, besides he's not so unlike the other aristocrats, just a jerk.

So she's playing impossible to get? Hm, how interesting, he thought. He didn't leave his spot next to the wall, for he had no wish to follow her home. He knew just where to find her again tomorrow.

But her sudden unbalanced movement got him worried and changed his mind almost immediately. He quickly ran to her and reached out his hands to support her, earning the second gasp of surprise from the green-haired cutie. "Hey watch where you're going." He said gently as his hold on her tightened.

"Why do you even care? Let go of me," she snapped, and quite irritated at herself for finding her voice had lost its toughness and was now so strangely weak. Lelouch didn't miss it either.

"Don't worry, I'm not the creepy stalker that you see on TV. I'll just make sure that you get home safely and I'll promise I will take my leave as soon as your door closes." He smiled down at her. Again, if it were any other girls, they would pass out with an over-dramatic sigh, but this was C.C., so that wasn't going to happen.

She looked up at him incredulously, but nodded anyway. Her merciless aching body could use all the help it could get.

So she allowed him to guide her to her house, which located on the other end of some dark valleys further away from the main street. The valley that they had been walking in was narrow enough, but it seemed that this particular path was triple-times worse. Lelouch frowned as he couldn't seem to find a way to get around all the garbages put in front of the houses, right next to the main doors, and both the smell and the humid air were unbearable. He asked the first thing that was on his mind. "How do you manage to live in a place like this!"

C.C. looked about her and finally back to him. "You get used to it eventually," she shrugged.

"But," he said uncomfortably, wrinkling his nose as the stinky smell hit him in the face. "A girl settling in an unsecured, corrupt place all alone is just a little too much, don't you think?"

She laughed dryly, "Not all of us get to pick where we should live. It all depends on rankings, talents, hard-works and lucks. Besides my house isn't here, it's much further down." She pointed towards the darkened streets.

"Down there?" Lelouch gulped, but he trusted her. He knew she wasn't the type to pull some dirty pranks on him. He didn't know how he could he trust a stranger so much like that; he never did before, but there was something about this girl that just drew him closer to her without her realizing it.

So C.C. with one arm over his neck, Lelouch with one arm around her small waist and the other held her bag for her, they proceeded to walk towards their destination.

* * *

"We're here," she whispered as they stopped in front of the house that was a great contrast to the others they had just seen. The raven-haired teen didn't seem to hear her as his gaze froze upon the sight.

Unlike the ghetto-like houses that they had passed, this one was _completely_ different. Instead of having low-roofs and one floor seemingly, it had the opposites: high-roofs and two floors with no garbages in sight. The door had the color of beige; its materials looked new and it looked like it could actually withhold a storm or hard rains. It somehow seems inviting, Lelouch mused as he tilted his head slightly to one side. Even the paintings of the house in general were fresh, quite joyful, in the contrast to the depressing feeling that this neighborhood possessed. He looked about himself and noticed for the first time with full surprise that this part actually was the only part that caught all the rays of the sun in the whole valley.

"Wow," he said with awe. "How could anyone actually believe that the furthest portion from the main street actually is the brightest one of all?"

C.C. gave a light chuckle. "It's not easy to get this house though. I had to work really hard, and at the end with all the savings I finally managed to."

Lelouch quickly turned his head to look at her. For the second time of the same day, he was hit by full surprise again, and those two times were really close to each other.

The girl who always wore the stone expression on her face, with absolute expressionless eyes smiled. It was a happy smile, a satisfied one, the one that made his heart flutter. Then out of nowhere, a knife of guilt stabbed straight to his heart.

All this time, when he was enjoying his life, going out partying all the time, had complete dependence on his parents for money and basically everything. This young girl had worked on her own, lived on her own with no one to depend on to. She'd had a good life until he butted in and ruined it entirely; he made her lose her job, now how was she supposed to survive?

Lelouch felt like his heart might explode if the silence were to keep dragging on.

"You should go," she said, turning her golden orbs to stare at him. "It's getting late. And once the sun sets completely, you won't know what awaits you ahead in this valley."

Just as she reached out to grab her bag, he spoke gently. "C.C. what do you think about coming to work for us? We'll pay you very well." For a split second, he realized with a start that it sounded like he was begging her.

She stopped midway. Her bangs covered her eyes entirely as she looked down so Lelouch couldn't see what kind of expression she was having now.

"No." Was her simple reply as she continued reaching towards her stuff.

He handed her the bag and said nothing, since he already detected a hint of anger in her voice. How stupid, he mentally cursed himself, I just reminded her of the extremely horrible thing I just did.

"Go home," she said coldly as she turned around to walk to her door. But as she put her hand on the doorknob, she stopped as if she were considering something.

Lelouch didn't feel like rushing at all.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice soft all of a sudden. "For walking me home." Then the door opened and closed without a sound behind her.

He could only stare with wavering eyes and remained speechless.

_We will see each other again, C.C…._


	3. Amendment

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews and advices guys! It means a lot to me ^^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

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Lelouch put down the can of coffee on his lap as his gaze never left the Pizza Hut restaurant. His long fingers slightly tapped on one of the soft cushions decorated in his ever-so-shiny black limousine. He quickly glanced at the silvery watch on his left arm and frowned. Where was she? She should have been here by now….

It was only nine in the morning, a time when none of the Lamperouge members were supposed to be awake yet. A time when they were supposed to be lying in their over-sized fancy beds with only fancy dreams as their companions.

He smirked bitterly. How funny it was that all of those luxurious things didn't seem all that matter to him anymore. For him, what really mattered right now was to get to know more about a certain person—a girl who got his heart flutter truly for the first time, the one who made him look at the world from a complete different angle, and the only one who kept his head occupied entirely since their fateful meeting.

With a small sigh, he put the coffee can up to his lips once again and drank the bittersweet fluid contained in it. Lelouch had hardly drunk these caffeine drinks before, not even energy drink of some sorts. He really didn't feel the need to do so; he always looked with disapproval when his best friend bought the Monster drink at a vending machine on their walk to the park. He often asked why someone would want to taste something not so pleasant like that, and Suzaku would always answer with a sigh, "Lelouch, you will understand once you start working out, or when your body _actually _gets exhausted."

Lelouch never understood the concept— until now.

His bright, beautiful violet orbs traveled about the car and stopped at the whole bag of coffee cans sitting on the seat next to him that he asked his chauffeur to buy for him on the way here. So far he'd already downed three, and it seemed to be working, for his body didn't nag for sleep any longer.

"Maybe Suzaku was right all along," he gave a low chuckle.

"Mister Kururugi was right about what sir?" His chauffeur, Kano, asked curiously from the front seat. He, himself, was drinking the same coffee brand Lelouch's currently drinking.

"That these energy drinks can actually revive your tired body. I'm quite glad that I have an athletic friend with more than useful information in cases like this," Lelouch replied, smiling slightly as he took another sip from the coffee. Then, a question popped up in his head and demanded to be asked.

"Say Kano," he complied with his mind. "Do you drink these things often?"

"Of course sir. Not only can coffee keep you awake, it can also help rebuild your mind after an exhausting event."

"Ah, I see." _Just like what Suzaku said…._

"I always have extra ones stored in the small fridge over there; I've never run out of them. But recently your night-outs for gambling—" Kano almost choked on his drink at the dawn of realization of what he was about to say. He hastily clapped a hand over his mouth and stared with wide, horrified eyes at his master's reflection in the mirror. He just knew he had said a little too much.

As expected, one of Lelouch's dark eyebrows raised up questioningly. He slowly put down the can and stared back at his chauffeur. His expression unreadable.

"Are you saying that my night-outs have tired you, and you must have the caffeine drinks in here the whole time so that you won't fall asleep on your duties?" His tone was monotonous.

A loud gulp was heard from the front as Kano tried to stall time to think of something to say to the raven-haired teen that wouldn't upset him on the lowest levels. It was futile; he knew he wasn't a very good liar. But why bothered trying when no one could ever lie face-to-face to his master and then get away with it smoothly, at least not in the records?

The poor guy could only nod as a small sigh escaped his lips, "Please forgive me. I've no intention of complaining. I—"

Lelouch cut him off with a raised hand. "It's nothing. I was just wondering, besides I know how difficult it is to drive when there's no one awake except you." He stopped short as he caught a glimpse of the sight that he had been waiting the whole time for. A satisfied smirk tugged at his lips.

"Kano, go home." He said abruptly as he placed his hand on the car-door latch, the coffee can completely forgotten.

"G—go home?" The chauffeur asked as if he didn't believe his ears, then he shook his head violently. "But what about you? How are you going to get home?"

"Don't worry about me, Kano. Just go home and take a long nap, it is an order." Lelouch said with a stern voice, his gaze never left the particular sight.

Kano gulped again; he learned it all too well not to go against the master when he had used_ that_ tone.

"All right sir, please take care. Call me if you ever need me."

Lelouch gave a slight nod as he opened the door, but before he got out he turned to look at his chauffeur with expressionless violet eyes, and with the high-authority voice that had frightened so many of his servants, he said. "If anyone ever asks about my whereabouts, say you have no idea. If my being here leaks out, this will be the last time you ever drive anywhere. Are we understood?"

"Y-Y-Yes, sir!" Half-squeaked the guy.

The door closed gently behind the raven-haired teen as he stepped out.

* * *

C.C. was trudging on the sidewalk with slow pace, a small bag slung over her shoulder. Her long, silky green hair was tied loosely into a ponytail, and was blowing freely behind her back whenever a gust of wind decided to pick up.

For the first time ever since six years ago, C.C.'s mind was actually getting occupied; so occupied that it caused her to toss and turn on the bed constantly just couple of hours after the sun rose, to the point that she thought she might go insane had she continued lying there. All the adorable collections of cheese-kun's and the addicting, delicious smell of pepperoni-and-cheese pizzas were of no help, unfortunately.

C.C. decided that the best solution to this strange upheaval was to get out of the house and take the advantage of the cool air to clear her head.

So here she was, walking to a place she knew wouldn't open for another hour, but she had no choice now. Moreover, she had important business there; being there early might help.

Her long legs kept carrying her on the streets without her even willing them to; it's like their sole goal at this moment was to get their master to the destination. The little stroll didn't last long though, for the green-haired girl forced them to stop at the unbelievable sight in front of her.

There, leaning onto the pole just outside of Pizza Hut restaurant was the same person from last night— the person who always wore an arrogant face; the one caused this mess for her, who was now looking at her direction with a grin plastered on his face.

"We meet again C.C." Said Lelouch as he straightened up and turned around to fully face her.

"Oh, and I thought last night was the last encounter we ever had in this lifetime."

"Disappointed?"

"Pretty much," C.C. commented nonchalantly as she stood her ground and stared at him with stony golden eyes.

"I don't know about that, since you allowed me to walk you home."

She chuckled. "Silly boy," then she took a step forward in advance; why should she not be confronting him? She had to show him that she wanted to get rid of him once and for all, so she continued her speech with cool voice. "You really think that walking a girl home could win her over? If that so, that is a very shallow thought, _good sir" _She emphasized the last two words full of sarcasm.

And to her small surprise, Lelouch also took a step forward as if to meet her, and when they were only a few feet apart, both stopped. If looked at by any bystanders, they would think those two teens were going to pull a drama. C.C. had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes at the thought.

"No, such thoughts are not worth for me to even consider," he huffed. "And I don't hope of gaining love from a girl with such a simple act. Girls like that just want to be adored; they don't truly love you for who you are."

"Oh? Speaking from experiences, I suppose."

A brief pause…

"Yes." As he concluded this, he took another step forward, and soon enough they were quite close to each other. But C.C. didn't flinch or back down. Instead she smirked, "Hmm, you prove to be more interesting and not so quite plain like other aristocrats."

"Now you believe me that not all rich people are the same?" He asked, his violet eyes bored into the golden ones.

"You didn't prove to be _really_ different yet, other than knowing how to play with words and how to charm a lady."

"So you're admitting I'm charming you now?" A teasing smirk played across his handsome face.

"Since I'm not a _lady_, it doesn't count." Replied C.C. coolly as if what she just said sounded nothing abnormal.

"N-Not a lady?" Lelouch repeated as if he thought his ears were deceiving him.

Just as expected, she thought and laughed. "Good sir, what I meant was I am far from a lady's concept in your high class's eyes. In your eye, I'm just an average 'peasant' girl. A lady is supposed to be wearing beautiful, expensive dresses and having servants with them all the time. Do you see me anything like that sir?"

"Stop with the 'sir' address," he whispered. Somehow, the way this certain green-haired girl said it made him uncomfortable and sort of ashamed of the way his kind treated people.

Of course it didn't go unnoticed by C.C.; she saw it too clearly in his violet orbs, and how she wished that she could taunt him more now that she knew his weakness had it not been for the ticking watch on her left arm that warned her the opening time was coming.

So instead of going further into teasing the poor boy, she switched back to her usual cold, nonchalant self. "How interesting, as you wish I will stop, but not before you tell me why you were stalking me."

"Stalking you?" Lelouch stammered. Him? Stalking people? Not possible.

"I wasn't stalking you," he said as one eyebrow was raised slightly. "I'm here for business."

"Business?" C.C. asked incredulously with her catlike-eyes narrowed.

"Yes, as you must have figured it out by now. I've done something terrible to you yesterday and now I want to amend."

She couldn't help but snort. "Amend? Since when did you become so concerned about other people's lives?"

"Since when I wanted to prove to you that I'm different." Answered Lelouch, his eyes wavering a little as he looked down at the girl.

"How noble of you," was all she managed to whisper. Was she in lost for words? Her? The shrewd C.C.? Impossible.

She then looked away to stare at the Pizza Hut restaurant instead. "What are you planning to do?"

The raven-haired teen followed her gaze, and when he turned back to look at her, an over-confident smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "I'm Lelouch Lamperouge, remember?

* * *

When they got to the door, the manager of the well-known Pizza Hut was putting up the "WE'RE OPEN" sign on it. At first he didn't bother to give a look at who the customers might be. It was still too early in the morning; no one would go to his shop just right after he opened, except for the ones who were so poor that they had to work two-jobs or maybe three. Said people often came here at the crack of dawn to have their stomachs filled before the workhours, and they're usually _very_ poor so there's no doubt that the manager couldn't care less about them.

However, when he caught a glimpse of many green locks blowing onto the door because of the morning's wind, and the pure white, way-too-clean clothes—or almost shiny clothes in his eyes. He slowly looked up and…

Shrieked "MISTER LAMPEROUGE!"

Both Lelouch and C.C. had to cover their ears if they wished not to damage them. "Damn, this guy has an extremely loud voice for a middle-aged man…" Lelouch muttered.

"Welcome to my world." Said C.C. evenly. People were supposed to have some emotions laced in their voices when they said that phrase. Well, probably C.C. was a unique exception in this one.

"Just follow my lead. And don't say anything unless I tell you to do so." Warned the raven-haired boy as the manager quickly unlocked the door for them.

Right before the door was thrown wide open, Lelouch thought of something new and beneficial for his plan. Not giving it a second thought, he grabbed C.C.'s hand tightly in his, earning a surprised gasp from her immediately. But she didn't get a chance to protest or pull back, because her creepy manager was already at the threshold with a maniac grin on his face.

"Welcome! Welcome to my humble restaurant, Mister Lamperouge!" He said, too much enthusiasm for both the customers' taste. And C.C. being there was completely forgotten.

He then quickly ushered him inside, but as soon as his gaze fell upon his former employee, he stopped abruptly and glared at her. "What are you doing here?" He asked harshly. "I thought I already fired you-"

"Miss C.C.'s with me," Lelouch cut him off coldly; he believed if the man dared say anything else to C.C. with that annoying tone, he might punch him in the nose with all the strength he could muster.

"She- She what!" Gaped the manager, eyes wide.

The raven-haired teen suppressed the urge to massage his temples as he continued. "I don't wish to repeat myself again. And I'm not here for pizza, I'm here for something else."

"What is it? I would do anything for you!"

Lelouch's eye twitched. _That sounds so wrong on many levels…_

He cleared his throat slightly.

"I want you to take back what you said yesterday and rehire her," he ordered with the high-authority voice of his, his emotionless gaze never left the poor shaking man, who looked pretty much dumbfounded. Obviously the manager had no idea what's going on; just yesterday these two teens were fighting—and didn't Lelouch want her to get fired? And now, they were…intimate? He glanced nervously at their intertwined hands and gulped.

C.C. knew exactly what her boss was thinking, and she absolutely believed that their little act had accomplished its mission. But strangely enough, the way Lelouch held her hand, tight but gentle at the same time, in his gave her an unknown sensation; she had never been close to a man like this before in her life. And as much as she wanted to pull back, she just couldn't. So instead, she just looked on stonily as she masqueraded her confused expression with a calm one.

"If you did so, I would tell all my friends to come hang out at your shop," Lelouch stopped to look around the place. "Hm, isn't the place a little bit _too_ empty? And wouldn't it be more famous if the majority of the aristocrats know about this Pizza Hut?" He turned back with a proud smirk playing on his face.

"Y-Y-Your f-friends? C-Come to _my_ shop?" It seemed that that was all the older man was hearing as he repeated what Lelouch had just said.

"Ahh."

"C.C.! You're hired! Now go get the apron, the uniform, the hat and get back to the front line! Now!" Cried the man way too happily.

"That's it?" Huffed the green-haired girl.

"Huh? Wh-?"

"An apology." Said both C.C. and Lelouch; they quickly turned to look at each other, then nodded with a knowing smile.

The manager shuffled on his feet uneasy for brief seconds; he had never apologized to anyone besides his precious customers before, so let alone an employee—

"I'm sorry for what I did." he muttered as he bowed his head.

"I'm sorry too," whispered Lelouch as he turned his head to look at the girl beside him, whose hands he was still holding. His eyes drowning into her beautiful golden orbs for several seconds, before she decided to pull back and shrug slightly. "Getting apologies from two men on the same day is quite rare," she then smirked teasingly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "And I believe you have officially amended, _sir."_

He frowned, "I told you not to call me that again."

"What are you going to do now boya?"

He shook his head, smiling slightly. "You're really exactly what I thought you would be." Then ignoring C.C.'s narrowing eyes, he turned back to the manager who was staring at them like there was no tomorrow. "I also want to inform you that miss C.C. here doesn't have to so nice if she doesn't wish for it."

Now it was C.C.'s turn to stare at him intently with much interest. "Not a single customer has complained about the way she served them before, am I correct?" He continued.

"Uh, no. Not that I can recall…" The older man said, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"So why bother changing her attitude when everyone around here loves the way she interacts with them right?"

"I-I guess you're right, Mister Lamperouge." Honestly, people living in this area already got used to her demeanor so long ago that they didn't mind anymore.

"Then it's settled," concluded Lelouch simply. C.C. could only chuckle.

When the manager decided to come back to his kitchen with all the fancy dreams that his restaurant might become more well-known not only to the commoners, but to the higher-classes, the two teens were left alone.

"You really do know how to manipulate people," C.C. said, amusement evident in her tone.

"Oh do I?" Lelouch chuckled as he turned on his heels. "Maybe if we get to know more about each other, I can teach you that, and you can teach me how to sound so nonchalant almost about everything all the time." Then without waiting for her response, he walked out with a knowing smirk tugging at his lips.

Staring at his retreating back, C.C. shook her head slightly and smiled to herself. "Ah, that could be arranged boya," she whispered.

* * *

**A/N: **Yes Monster drinks! Lol those are my favorite energy drinks; they always keep me awake in the morning or on exam days (not that I drink them everyday, that would kill my brain cells and I would become addicted, which is not good..) But still I couldn't help but put them in here regarding to the plot.

And about C.C.'s comment on her not being a lady. Well lady means: 1) a polite name for any women. 2) the way people address high-class/important women back then, or even now (like the First Lady). And in this one, I'm going with the latter, but I could be slightly(maybe?) wrong about the definitions though...

Oh and heads-up: Suzaku will make an appearance in the next chapter! Wow I have to admit, I kind of missed writing him lol. I just realized that he didn't have enough spotlight so I'd definitely make up for it.

Also please don't forget to throw in a review on your way out :)


	4. Moments of Truth

Sorry for the late update guys! Things came up (exams included . but luckily they're almost over, yes!) so I couldn't focus much on this story, sorry again. And to be honest, I was sort of having writer's block on this chapter...but now it's all done, and I'm really satisfied with the way it came out, so I hope you will enjoy it too! ^^

And special thanks to **Devi **and** PlatinaBirds** for your awesome reviews in the last chapter! :D

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

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The reflection in the mirror put a satisfied smile on a certain raven-haired teen's face. He gave himself an over-all look and nodded; everything just seemed _so _fine. Neatly combed hair, cool clothes for a day-out—Lelouch decided that an ironed light-colored pink shirt, which was unbuttoned the first couple of buttons, accompanied by a white leather jacket was more than perfect, and of course, white jacket never went anywhere without white pants as its companion.

What troubled him was the question still lingering in his head: Should he be wearing tie too? A black loose tie? He had been pondering over it for a few moments and still couldn't come up with a final decision. Lelouch believed that it would be too formal to wear such thing when on a 'date', but it added a lot to his charming, cute looks. So to be formal or to be simple? Thought Lelouch as he stared at the tie in his hands with concentrated eyes.

Just before his mind screamed for him to make a decision, the doorbell rang.

The raven-haired teen swirled around quickly on his heels and a knowing smile plastered on his face as he rushed out of his room.

One of the servants was almost at the door when he jogged down the stairs as fast as he could to catch up with her. "I'll get it!" He called out, panting slightly.

The girl looked up with wide, puzzled eyes as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her master actually wanted to do something in the house? Were her ears deceiving her or something?

"Master Lam-" Was all she managed to get out before he cut her off sharply.

"Go heat up the food in the fridge that I bought yesterday and prepare some tea. Then just leave them in the kitchen and go back to your room. Also tell other servants not to bother us." His commands were on the same level as the King's.

"Yes sir!" Squeaked the girl as she hurried to the kitchen, not dared to throw one last look behind her.

Lelouch smoothed out his clothes before putting his hand on the doorknob, and opened it.

"Suza-" He smiled.

"Lelouch! What's wrong? Did something happen? Did Nunnally fall down the stairs? Did Marianne finally know about your night-gamblings? Did-"

"Suzaku!" Lelouch cut him off with full surprise. "What are you talking about?" He could only stare at the other teen with wide, questioning eyes.

Suzaku looked taken aback, then the staring contest began.

Finally, the brown-haired teen brought his hand up to scratch the back of his head. "Wait, what _was_ I talking about?"

"That' what I'm asking you," said Lelouch with one high-raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, it's just that I've never been called to your house so early like this before," Suzaku explained as a small yawn escaped his lips. "I figured maybe something had happened, for none of you are supposed to be awake at this time."

"We're not vampires Suzaku." Lelouch's left eye twitched.

His friend could only smile. "That's how it works around here. You guys party out all night long and sleep during day time."

"There's always a first time for a change."

"I guess so." Another yawn was let out.

Lelouch studied his best friend, worry evident in his eyes. "Been lacking sleep?"

"Yeah, it's been pretty busy lately." Suzaku replied, wiping his eyes to clear the sleepiness. "So why did you call me here?"

"Can't a friend hang out with a friend?" Asked Lelouch as he let out a low chuckle.

Suzaku couldn't help but laugh. "I believe there's more to it than just that simple fact."

"You're sharp as always," Lelouch smiled. "Yes you guessed right, the real reason why I called you was because I wanted to return the favor."

"Favor?" The brown-haired teen said, confused.

"You helped me out at Kaguya's party, didn't you?"

"Oh right, but that's what friends do after all."

"Aah, but you said I'd owe you big time."

Suzaku tilted his head to one side slightly as he considered it. Then, a grin made its way onto his handsome face. "If that's what you wish. So what you do have for me?"

"Come on, let's just go inside first," Lelouch said as he ushered the brown-haired teen through the white-polished door.

* * *

Suzaku flopped down in the one of the most comfy chairs in the kitchen, his gaze glued to the big dish on the table—the dish that contained some sort of food that looked like flatbreads.

"What's this Lelouch?" He asked curiously.

The teen in question sat down in the chair opposite from his friend with a cup of tea in one hand as the other propped up his chin. "My thanks."

"By giving me food?" Suzaku asked surprisingly.

"It's not just _any_ food Suzaku. I bet you haven't eaten this before."

Suzaku leaned forward to give it a better look. "Come to think of it, I have _never_ even seen it before, so let alone eat it."

Lelouch smiled knowingly before giving out an offer. "Go ahead, it's all yours."

Reluctantly, the brown-haired teen reached out his hand to pick one slice of the flatbreads up. He stared at it with interest as the thick steamy yellow liquid on top made its way slowly downward.

"You'd better eat it before it drips down all over the plate," Lelouch suggested as he sip his own tea.

"Huh? Oh right, sorry." Suzaku quickly bit down into the newly strange food, and let his taste buds do their job.

"Wow! This is great!" He exclaimed after a few seconds with widened green eyes. "What _i_sthis?"

Lelouch gave a small laugh. "Don't you remember the commercials that we often see on TV? The ones where people go into this shop and buy big square boxes?"

A moment passed as Suzaku tried to recall the memory. "Hm…Ah! Pizza Hut isn't it?" He asked eagerly, then looked down at the food in his hand. "So _this_ is called pizza."

"Yes," His friend nodded.

"I bet Euphie would like this very much," Suzaku said with dreamy eyes as a gentle smile crept its way onto his face.

"Euphie?"

"Yes Euphie- Oh sorry, I forgot that's not how we're supposed to call her. It's actually Princess Euphemia, but she insists that I address her by Euphie. She said it's friendlier that way." If it were possible, the brown-haired teen's eyes got even dreamier as his smile widened a bit.

"Princess Euphemia… I see that you got accepted."

"Yes, it was hard trying to impress the Royalty at first; they're all really picky when it comes to personal knights you know. But it's all worth it."

"Suzaku, you just have to believe in your talents. If you think the negative, you will definitely fail even before you get the chance to try. If you think the positive, success is within the grasp. Thoughts have a great affect on us after all."

"Classic Lelouch's time," chuckled Suzaku.

Lelouch smiled slightly as he put his chin on one hand and sunk deeper into the chair. "I'm giving you advices; it's not easy being a Royal Knight."

"That's true, especially working near the King and Queen. But Euphie's really nice; she gives me hope and keeps encouraging me. I know I've got a long road ahead but this is my destiny Lelouch, I won't back out of it."

"You've been training so hard for the past few weeks. I also have faith in you Suzaku."

"Thanks, I think I can do this. More importantly, I wanted to turn my life in a different direction." Suzaku said, his voice suddenly was nothing more than a mere whisper.

Lelouch remained silent as he contemplated this. Finally he said, "What do you mean by that, may I ask?"

"It's just," Suzaku replied, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. "This lifestyle. It's starting to make me realize that I have no purpose in life except going out partying and meeting people who only befriend me because I'm rich."

"But isn't that _who _we are? We're born aristocrats, there's nothing we can do to change it."

"We may not be able to change our births, but we have full control over our destinies Lelouch. I believe we can shape our own lives if we truly wish."

"Shape our own lives. That sounds…distant." Whispered Lelouch as he stared at his tea cup.

Suzaku studied his best friend for several seconds. "You want to know what happened at Kaguya's party?"

Lelouch flinched slightly at the question, then nodded reluctantly. "Sure I guess."

"Your fangirls didn't leave me alone for a second ever since I stepped foot inside the restaurant. They kept throwing questions at me regarding your whereabouts nonstop; I didn't even have time to eat, no lies!"

Lelouch shuddered at the image unfolding in his head; hundreds of girls surrounded Suzaku, demanding for answers and throwing deadly glares at the poor boy. "I-I'm sorry," was all he could get out.

"But I'd rather get questions thrown at me than knives," muttered the brown-haired teen.

Lelouch choked on his tea immediately, "Wha-What? Knives!"

"Ah, your number-one fangirl was the one responsible for that."

"You mean Kaguya?" He asked in shock.

"She's really, _really_ pissed that you're not there. So pissed to the point that she took hold of all the knives and forks on the table and sent them flying at me."

Lelouch couldn't suppress the urge to gulp, and he lost the ability to speak right after that.

"Fortunately enough, I was trained for those situations so I survived, as you can see," Suzaku continued, unaware of his best friend's pale expression. "Kaguya's _so _obsessed with you. Who could possibly believe that she was planning an attempted murder for her cousin?" He shook his head slightly.

"You dodged all those knives?" Asked Lelouch slowly as if his brain had trouble comprehending what his friend's saying.

"It didn't seem like I had another option here now did I? If I didn't wish to invite the God of Death," Suzaku said, smiling wryly.

"Why is your cousin so scary?"

"Tell me about it. Last time I've been in her room, it looked like she had some sort of a framed picture of you pinned on the wall. Very nice decoration around it and gold frame too."

"I bet she isn't the only one," mumbled Lelouch.

Suzaku let out a short laugh, "It's a natural thing that all of your fangirls must have at least one picture of you in possession."

"You shouldn't be the one to talk Suzaku. Same thing goes to you," Lelouch said, smirking knowingly.

And to his credit, Suzaku went pale immediately. He slightly looked away. "The more reason why I wanted to get out of this lifestyle."

A silence engulfed the kitchen, and the only sounds present in it were the ticking hands of the Grand Clock and the even breathings of the two teens.

Finally it was Lelouch to break it, "So what did you tell them about my absence?"

"At the party? Well you see," Suzaku cleared his throat. "I said that you er.. fell down the stairs and broke your leg?"

"Wha-?" The second time Lelouch choked on his own tea. "Suzaku! I thought you said you're going to be creative!"

"Hey, it's hard to concentrate with all the glarings I was receiving! And before I knew it, words already came out."

"I'm not that clumsy. Everyone knows it," deadpanned the raven-haired teen.

"There's always the first time for everything Lelouch. Besides tripping on your own slippers and falling down the stairs are what humans _normally _do on daily basis."

A sigh escaped his lips as Lelouch massaged his temples, "I can't believe they bought that."

"And to give me credits," continued the brown-haired teen proudly. "I stopped them from destroying your 'alone-night-out' plan."

"What do you mean?"

"They were going to rush to your house to see how you're doing. All of them Lelouch. But I blocked the doorway and said that you probably needed some alone time to get recovered, and you definitely wouldn't be pleased to see your fangirls frantic."

_Fangirls….frantic…there's nothing worse than that…_Lelouch shuddered slightly at the thought. "I congratulate you Suzaku. You still remained one piece after going against _them_, Kaguya especially."

"That's what muscles and an exercised body are for," grinned the brown-haired teen. He then leaned forward to grab another slice of the pizza and brought it up to proceed the eating process.

"So did any of them call you yet?" He asked curiously as he chewed the delicious food.

"I don't know. I haven't turned my cell phone on since I last talked to you, and to be honest, I want to keep it off like that; it's less bothersome that way."

"You know they would come to your house eventually."

"Then I shall think of an escape," chuckled Lelouch. "But right now everything seems fine."

"So what do you think after this?"

Lelouch looked taken aback. "What do _I_ think? After this?" He repeated, confused.

"Yeah," Suzaku nodded and continued. "Don't you feel like we're living on a run here? It's not possible to please and satisfy all the girls, and when we can't fulfill our duties, we have to run for our lives."

"You're making it sound like they are little devils or something."

"But it's true. We can't attend every party that they host can we? And we definitely can't be there with all of them at once when they need us right?"

"I guess you're right." Lelouch muttered, then as a memory from the past stirred at the back of his mind, he let out a short laugh as he said. "Remember the blue-haired girl that you met two years ago Suzaku?"

"Blue-haired girl?" Suzaku repeated slowly as he titled his head to one side, trying to remember. "I remember her, but I forgot her name," he said at last, sounding slightly apologetic.

"It's all right, so did I. Well she had a huge crush on you, and was so jealous when you're with other girls that she wanted to poison your coffee, and then take her own life so that you guys could be together in the afterlife. Remember?"

"How-How could I forget _that _Lelouch?" The brown-haired teen asked. His voice trembling slightly, his green eyes widened as the flashbacks of the incident came flushing back in a violent wave. "It's a nightmare. No actually, she pretended that she lost her precious cat and wanted me to help her find it, but I didn't have time because of Kallen's birthday party. And she thought I was just making up excuses to spend time with different girl, so she…." He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence as a lump made its way up his throat.

"So she decided to kill you out of paranoia and jealousy," Lelouch finished for his friend. Even in this circumstance, the situation did seem humorous somehow. "I remember she bought you a can of coffee, saying that it'd help you rebuild your body after an exhausting event. Who knows that she already put toxic substances in?"

"But how could she do that without opening the can?"

"She did open it before giving it to you."

"How do you know?"

Lelouch couldn't help but rolled his eyes. "I was there Suzaku. How funny it was that she believed I sided with you when I said you really needed to go to Kallen's party, and the cat could be found later."

"Yeah. Luckily, I had no interest in caffeine drinks back then so I declined."

"But she didn't give up did she? She's forcing you to take it."

"Ah, but as I kept refusing, she became more aggressive and we started to notice her true motives."

Lelouch chuckled lowly. "Then you took the can and dumped it in the trash right in front of her eyes. Then you just left."

"That was kind of rude, but my life was on stake there," Now it was Suzaku's turn to chuckle. Back then, the situation was life-threatening, but now it all seemed so silly and humorously crazy.

"What happened after that? I forgot." Lelouch asked.

"Oh. Hm…I think we stopped seeing each other and I cut off all the connections with her. Then I guess she moved to different town and we haven't met again since then."

"That's also when you decided to spend just enough amount of time with each girl."

"Come to think of it, I haven't been to many parties either. Right after that incident."

"If I remember correctly, you later joined the Royal Knight Training Program and have been working 24/7."

"That's right," nodded Suzaku. He then sunk deeper into the comfortable kitchen chair and put his arms on the armrests. "Actually it's all thanks to her. Before she came into the picture, I sort of realized that there's something off about my life, but couldn't quite put my finger on it. And then her poisoning scheme pulled me out of my reveries and finally made me realize that my life really had no purpose; all I ever did was please the girls, and once I couldn't do it anymore, they decided to kill me and throw me away like a ragged doll."

"Is that why you decided to become a Royal Knight?" Lelouch asked, his voice was suddenly nothing more than mere whisper.

"Aah. At least becoming a Knight makes my youth more meaningful; I'm serving the country, protecting the people who are worth protecting."

Lelouch was silent for a while, his mind currently contemplating the meanings of his friend's words. At last, he spoke. "So you think we can all shape our destinies?"

"If you're set for it, then yes. Definitely." Said Suzaku firmly.

"But it will be a challenge."

"Not if you have a motivation."

"Motivation?"

"Yes. Like in my case, Princess Euphemia's the main reason as to why I'm trying to improve myself. Unlike the other royal members, she saw through me and said that I have potential; and that I can do anything if I was determined to do so."

"Potential," Repeated Lelouch. He slowly put his chin on his palm as he studied his best friend sitting across from him. "You've always had potential Suzaku. Ever since we were kids."

"True, but now it and the determination were fully triggered by _her _encouraging words."

"Aah I see. So you need a motivation to change your life."

Suzaku suddenly leaned forward and stared at the raven-haired teen's face with set green eyes. "Lelouch, you have potential too. Don't ask me how I know; I just do. If you truly want to shape your destiny, all you need is a goal. Motivation can come later."

Violet orbs tore away from emerald ones after that little speech was made, and they looked down.

But it lasted only for a few seconds before they were up again.

"Thanks Suzaku. I think I'm set."

"May I ask what your goal is?"

Lelouch let a mysterious smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as he started to stand up. "Sorry can't tell."

"What? You're being secretive again Lelouch!"

"I thought you already knew it. I've always been secretive Suzaku."

The brown-haired teen couldn't help but chuckled. "If you found a true girlfriend, I wonder how she can endure that."

"Trust me," Lelouch said, putting the tea cup away. "She will prefer the mysterious me to the boring, plain me that I always put on for the aristocratic girls."

Unbeknownst to Lelouch, Suzaku's eyebrow rose up slightly. _Did he just say 'aristocratic'? He never uses that word before…._

His eyes then followed his best friend with curiosity as the raven-haired teen went up to the kitchen drawer to pull out a sticky note. He seemed to be scribble something on it real quick, because before Suzaku even stole a glance at what he's writing, he already put it on the table, in front of him.

"Here's the address to the Pizza Hut place. You said you wanted to take Princess Euphemia there correct?"

"Oh! Thanks Lelouch!" Said the brown-haired teen gratefully as he grabbed the piece of paper in his hand and studied it. "Wow, you actually remember the address by heart or something?"

"Aah I do." Lelouch answered as he proceeded walking out the kitchen.

"Hey where are you going?"

"Out. I'm meeting someone."

"You know you never give much details?" Chuckled Suzaku. "And I thought you just dressed up for fun like usual."

Dressing up, now this got Lelouch's attention as he stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around on his heels. "Since we're on the clothing topic, do you think I should wear tie? Black tie?"

Suzaku titled his head slightly to one side, then shrugged. "I think you look fine without it. Ties on a typical day-out are just too formal and uncomfortable."

The raven-haired teen smiled slightly; his best friend, like him, had an awesome fashion sense. There's no denial in that, and everyone knew it was the absolute truth. So if he said no, then no.

"Thanks Suzaku," he said, giving said teen a pat on the shoulder on the way out. "Enjoy your pizza and once you're done, make yourself at home."

"Ah. Have fun Lelouch."

A knowing smirk made its way onto his handsome face; Lelouch knew he would, by all means. "I will."

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**A/N: **I promised last time that Suzaku would make a big appearance in this chapter didn't I? Lol it actually was pretty fun writing up conversations for those two; their friendship is really interesting. And of course I was inspired by the Sound Drama/Episodes of Code Geass; just imagining up their voices really helped lol.

And to any of you who might be wondering, no the blue-haired girl was not Cecil. She's just some random girl that I thought of but was just too lazy to find her a proper name xD

I really hope you enjoyed this little piece and **review **please? It's a great motivation :)


	5. First Date, Right?

I'll be honest and say I've got absolutely no excuses for this incredibly lateness except for my laziness T.T I'm very, very, very sorry for this super long delay. I just couldn't get the juice flowing for this chapter, guess because 1. it's summer, it's soo hot here (er, I guess the temperate has nothing to do with this...), 2. my laziness got the best of me. That is why I'll be the happiest author if you guys still have an interest in this story and keep reading, favoriting, alerting, reviewing, etc. Yup, that would definitely make my day and make me smile for probably the whole day :D

And now, very special thanks to my reviewers: **Sakurahanaalice, LasNoches92girl, Ledilettant, Devi, Kaida-chan, FF inc, PlatinaBirds, ChainedHs2rt. **You don't know how much your reviews meant to me :D and thank you those who favorited and alerted. You guys are awesome!

**FF inc: **Actually, it is not my mother's tongue, yet it is at the same time.

**LasNoches92girl: **Don't worry, Nunnally will make an appearance in here. Though I can't let her have a whole chapter with Lelouch like Suzaku :( but she will definitely be in this story. I can't leave someone who is very important to Lelouch out lol.

Now on with the chapter. Hm, I think this one is the longest one in the story so far... But anyway, hope you guys enjoy this as well! :D

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

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_The cherry blossoms are so beautiful this year, _thought the girl as she stared up at the thousand-year-old tree. The cool autumn's wind gently passed by, sending her long hair swaying behind her back. A small smile crept up her face as she remembered six years ago she had come to this place with _that _person.

_It's been that long? _She mentally asked herself, puzzled.

She hadn't had the time to come here as often as she had back then. Work had caught up with her, along with other daily chores. And now that she had _someone else _in her life, things sure didn't slow down for a bit.

Her eyes stayed glued to the tree as the memories of the past came flushing back in her mind. _That _person was cruel. They took her here and then left her right after. If it weren't for the sudden leave of _that _person, she would have had a better, happy life now.

Then she suddenly shook her head. No, she had to remember what _that _person taught her; that's all she had left of them.

_Past is past, nothing can be changed or undone, so rather than spending your time on worrying about it, learn from your mistakes and live happily. _It seemed like the words were printed deeply into her mind, and whenever she came to this place, she could recite it right off the top of her head.

Too busy drowning in her own thoughts, she didn't realize a person come running towards her.

"C.C.!"

She slowly turned around and met with a handsome-looking young man, who was panting slightly as he finally reached her.

"Lelouch," she greeted with a rare smile.

The raven-haired boy stood, straightening himself up, and asked, "Have you waited long, C.C.?" He sounded apologetically.

"No, I decided to be here early," she answered as her gaze went back up to the tree again.

Lelouch just realized that there was one common thing between them: both of them never liked to give out much details. He couldn't help chuckling at that.

C.C. didn't budge.

Frowning, noticing her strange, too quiet demeanor – usually she would ask and tease him to no end about his sudden burst of laughter, like she did the first time they met – Lelouch took a step closer to her and said. "Hey, are you OK?"

C.C. didn't answer him right away, and for a moment he thought she wasn't going to answer at all, but she did at last. "I was just wondering, it's almost like an Act of Providence that you picked this place as our first day-out."

His frown and stiffness relaxed a bit and he looked up at the sight she was staring at. "Well, this park is one of the most beautiful places in the town. Besides," he said, pointing towards the skyscraper located not so far away from their spot. "I wanted to take you to that French restaurant."

C.C. finally looked down and followed his long finger's pointing to the fancy-looking place. A delicate green eyebrow arched slightly. "A five-star restaurant?"

"Yes," Lelouch answered proudly.

"How contradicting," she replied, sighing. "You said the second day we met that you're not the same as the other aristocrats. Yet you wanted to go in _there, _one of the most well-known, expensive places in town?"

Lelouch looked taken aback immediately, and started stammering like a fish on a dry land. Finally, he managed to regain his previous composure, clear his throat and answered her calmly. "It is not _I_ who has the desire to go to such place. It is for _you."_

C.C. just looked on stonily. "You know I would never prefer this," she said flatly.

"I thought a change once in a while will be good," he replied. "I know you haven't been to places like this before, so I thought I may take you out to it on our first dat- I mean day-out!" He quickly corrected himself. A color of light pink quickly dusted his bony cheeks, and of course none of these went unnoticed by C.C., but she decided to let it slide. For now.

She turned towards the restaurant again and sly smile crept up her face. "But didn't you say I could make my choice as to where we should go?"

"Of course you can," he said softly. "So what do you have in mind?"

She turned back to him in a swift motion and smirked knowingly. "Pizza Hut."

"Pizza Hut!" He shouted, then remembering where he was, he quickly lowered his voice. "Pizza Hut? Why? Didn't you have enough pizzas for the past few years you work there? You know eating pizza everyday _isn't _good for your health, it'll make you fat – not that you're fat now, but still it-"

"My choice, Lelouch," she reminded him sweetly, cutting off his babblings.

The raven-haired teen sighed a sigh of defeat, then he said resignedly. "Fine, Pizza Hut it is."

The smirk never faltered from C.C.'s face as she took off. "We have to walk for a while though. I don't think there's a Pizza restaurant around here."

"I don't get it," Lelouch said as he caught up with her and was walking beside her. "If you had other option in your mind, why did you agree to go to this park in the first place?"

C.C. shrugged nonchalantly, "I didn't know you would want to take me to that French restaurant."

"I remember very clearly that I mentioned I'd take you to eat today," he frowned, confused. "And you _know _that restaurant is the only eating-place located near here. The others are far, though they manage to be in walking-distance."

C.C. didn't answer. She quickly picked up her pace, but her elbow was caught by Lelouch's firm hand, and she was jerked back slightly. Their gazes locked.

"You ignored me once before, C.C., I can deal with that. But two times in a row? That's unbearable," he commented. His hold on her was firm; he wasn't letting her go anytime soon.

He was looking at her, and she was glad that he couldn't see her facial expressions, due to her long bangs that were covering the upper half of her face. She thought she couldn't even talk anymore. It felt like there was a lump making its way up to her throat and stopping all the words that wanted to come out. C.C. had never felt something so overwhelmingly powerful like this before; it was almost like she had no control over her body. She wanted to open her mouth, to explain to the boy next to her, to tell him everything, but her own mind just screamed a solid 'no'.

She felt dizzy, her head was spinning around and around, and she staggered. For a moment, C.C. thought her head was twisted upward on its own, for all she could see was the wide, blue sky. She was falling, and she knew it would hurt to fall backward like that. Nevertheless, before she knew it, she was hanging mid-air, and a voice was calling to her. Distant but clear and desperate "C.C.! C.C.!"

Slowly opening her golden eyes, the first thing she saw was a worried face looking down at her. He looked panicked as the voice kept increasing its volume, "C.C.? C.C.!"

"Lelouch?" She whispered. Her voice was strangely weak.

"C.C., what's the matter? Are you feeling sick?" He asked.

She looked about her, and realized that both of them had ended up on the ground. No, to be quite precise, _Lelouch _was sitting on his knees, holding _her_ shoulders, and since her legs totally gave out seconds ago, she was sitting up on the ground now, with only Lelouch's arms as strong support. After a stretched moment, she looked up at him again, "What…happened?" She asked wearily.

"You passed out all of a sudden. If I hadn't caught you in time, we're in serious trouble," he replied, worry still evident in his tone. "Listen, if you don't feel good, how about I take you home?"

"No," C.C. said as she tried to break free from him and stood up. Though the dizziness wasn't gone entirely, it managed to cease a bit. "I'm fine. Can we proceed to the Pizza place?"

Lelouch stared up at her with bewilderment, gaping. "C.C.!" He exclaimed. "You _just _passed out, for crying out loud! How can you still think about going to Pizza Hut?"

As Lelouch was going on about her obsession for pizza, C.C. slowly dusted off her skirt and looked towards the entrance to the park with a spark in her eyes. "Are you even listening to me?" Lelouch asked after awhile, cutting all her thoughts.

She turned to him – he already stood up and was standing with his hands in his pockets, looking somewhat annoyed – and smiled slightly. "I'm flattered by your concern. But there's no need for you to be so worried about me. I've lived and taken care of myself for as long as I can remember," she reminded him softly.

"Right….take care of yourself," Lelouch muttered under his breath, lest she will hear. He could only imagine what would happen if she were to walk home alone one night and suddenly passed out for no particular reason – like she did just now. And in her darkened valley, without any trusting persons besides her….. Lelouch quickly shook his head, not daring to think about it anymore.

"If you don't move from that spot, I'm going to leave you," an amused voice sounded from a distance.

Lelouch looked up and was startled to find the girl he was _just_ conversing with was already near the entrance to the park. "Oi! Wait up, C.C.!" He called out, picking up his pace to catch up with her.

As he almost reached his destination, a group of kids who looked under ten years old ran up to him. They seemed to forget about everything else around them as they laughed and chased each other. Lelouch paid them no mind as he continued on, but one boy accidentally bumped into him and fell backwards on his butt. The other kids stopped and looked to see how the raven-haired teen reacted.

Everyone knew it's not a bizarre thing to bump into other people, especially in the crowded places like this park. But in the case concerning the aristocrat, it might turn into a problem.

The boy's friends' eyes widened as they moved back and forth between Lelouch and their poor buddy, wondering if the raven-haired aristocrat was going to explode on him.

Lelouch stared down at the boy, half of him wanted a make a fuss about the kid bumping into his newly ironed-clothes, half of him just wanted to let it go, for it was just an accident. This strange, newly-discovered feeling confused him. Back then, once he'd decided something, he'd do it, and apparently he'd never give it a second thought or even hesitate. So to be like this now, it's quite a puzzle, and it took him a moment to realize that he's supposed to say something, if he didn't wish to look like an idiot just standing there.

To surprise even himself, he said, "Are you all right?" as he reached out one of his hands to help the boy up.

And to his greater surprise, the boy took it immediately as if he fully expected this and thought it was totally normal for an aristocrat to act like this. Lelouch was still bewildered by both of their actions that he didn't realize other people around were now stopping and watching them with interest.

Finally it was the boy who broke his trance. "You are Lelouch Lamperouge, aren't you?" He said in his chirpy, innocent tone.

Lelouch nodded. "Yes."

"I've heard about you a lot!" The boy said with too much enthusiasm. His eyes widened with excitement as he went on. "You are the best of all! You got everything a man wants: rich, money, status, basically everything! And to be the best of the best, you're a master of chess!"

Lelouch could only stare at the boy with full surprise, temporarily was at loss for words. Honestly, in his entire existence, he'd never encountered this kind of situation before. Sure, he had a lot of fangirls, but those only surrounded him because of his looks and influences. This boy, nevertheless, looked up to him, admired him because of his brilliant mind and potential for chess. _This_ was different.

He still stared at the boy, unable to say anything at the moment. The young boy didn't seem to care or even notice his silence. He went on in his chirpy tone. "Mister Lamperouge, I've always wanted to be like you. You're like my role model It's rare to find a noble man to develop an interest in logic games like that. You've beaten every opponent that dared stand against you. Every game you played, it always ended under five minutes and totally in epic. That's why I've wanted to become like you, to be a master in chess, to be able to use my brain to solve things instead of using violence. You're my hero, Mister Lamperouge!"

Lelouch let the boy do the talking; he made no interruptions. He listened the whole time, taking every word the innocent boy said deep into the corridor of memories in his mind. The whole time, he closed his purple eyes and let the meanings of the words sink into his heart.

"I.." the boy said, seeming to finally realize the aristocrat making no attempts to respond, and starting to sound nervous. "I-I'm glad I met you here Mister Lamperouge. I've seen you in papers before, but never got the chance to actually meet you in person. So if I'm troubling you, please forgive me!" The boy finished quickly as he bowed his head low, eyes shut, waiting for the explosion.

It never came.

Instead, Lelouch bent down on one of his knees and put his hand on top of the boy's head, ruffling his hair gently. "Thank you boy. I really appreciate what you said to me, I really do," he said in his soft voice, smiling gently.

The young boy looked up to stare into Lelouch's purple orbs as if he couldn't believe his ears and wanted to detect some lies in them, but found none. He quickly nodded, a grin made its way onto his childish face. "Thank you!"

"No," Lelouch contradicted him, shaking his head slightly. "I should be the one thanking you. You've made me realize something."

The boy cocked his head to one side. "What is it?"

"I can't tell you," Lelouch laughed dryly. "Because I'm not even sure myself."

"So let's do our best then! We will both reach our goals in the future. I'll become like you, trying to be a Chess Master. And you will do whatever you're set doing."

Lelouch nodded, returning his grin. "Aah. I'll be looking forward to having you as an opponent."

The young boy's grin widened double-times, and it seemed like he's going to give his role model a big hug had it not been for the callings of his friends. "Hiro! Let's go! Our parents are waiting!"

The young boy named Hiro nodded towards his friends, then turned to Lelouch and bowed at once. "Thank you so much! I really am glad to have met you today."

"Aah. Take care Hiro, and pursue your dream," Lelouch said, ruffling the boy's black hair one last time.

Hiro nodded again with a grin still on his face, and took off after his friends.

Lelouch was too busy staring after him that he didn't realize C.C. was approaching. "Oh? That went well."

"Huh? What did?" He asked, startled to find that there's actually someone accompanying him.

C.C. chuckled as she let her own golden eyes follow the young boy until he was out of sight. "Well, I thought you would explode on him."

"Why would you think that?" Lelouch asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Considering your kind, it's one of the things that couldn't be helped."

"So you see I'm different now?"

"A little bit."

"A little bit? I've proven myse-"

C.C. let out a laugh, cutting Lelouch off immediately. An amused, cheery laugh in his opinion – to hear her laugh like this was quite rare. "Come on, you'll have plenty of opportunities to prove yourself. Now can we proceed to Pizza Hut? I really am starving." She said, smirking.

"You and pizza," Lelouch muttered, but he couldn't keep the amusement out of his tone quite well, for he saw her smirking knowingly again out of the corners of his eyes.

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The park was so quiet now. Most people had already vacated it to go home after the clock chimed 5 o'clock late in the evening. The only ones who were still present there was a couple of couples, who loved the relaxing silence that they hardly found in such a busy town, so the majority of them picked their favorite spots and just lied there, enjoying the refreshing air with each other. Of course, Lelouch and C.C. were of no exception.

Lelouch suggested they go near the riverbank, that way they could feel the evening breeze coming from it, and he guaranteed it's best spot in the whole park, speaking from experience. C.C., however, had a different idea, she wanted to go back to the tree where they had met earlier and sat under it. At first Lelouch didn't want to; he said there's nothing appealing over there, but since C.C. was being so persistent, he had to go along, only on one condition.

"You know," C.C. commented as she looked down at the teen with one high-raised eyebrow. "This is the first time I _ever_ let a boy lie on my lap like this."

A satisfied smirk crossed Lelouch's handsome face. "Then it is an honor for me." Then he added. "Besides, that's what you get for wanting to sit here."

"So cunning," retorted C.C. "You have to admit this spot has the most shades."

"But the riverbank has breezes."

As if on cue, a gust of wind gentle blew past the sakura tree, and carrying so many white and pink sakura petals with it in the process. C.C. quickly averted her eyes up to stare at the tree, as Lelouch closed his eye-lids to enjoy the cool, windy moment to its fullest; the smile never faltered from his face.

"It's been so long…."

Lelouch's eyes snapped open immediately and he looked up at the green-haired girl whose lap was supporting his head. He recognized the tone; it was back then on night they first met, when he escorted her home, and complimented her beautiful-built house. That's when she answered him, in that gentle tone, though it had a mixture of sadness in it. It just seemed like all the slyness had gone out of her at that moment, and she looked so fragile, so weak, as if she needed protection, some warmth at least.

Before Lelouch realized what he's doing, one of his hands that were lying on his tummy brought up to touch hers, which was resting on his soft locks. "C.C…" was all he managed to say. He knew she wasn't telling him something, but he didn't want to be considered as a pushy person. Therefore, he'd press the matter, but at the same time, gaining her absolute trust as well. "What's wrong? You seem distant again, C.C." He said softly.

The gentle wind didn't stop its blowing yet.

"Don't you realize the world is empty sometimes Lelouch? And that what you wish would never become true, no matter how you look at it?"

"It depends on what you wish. We're not Gods, thus we can make the impossible become possible."

"What about mere happiness?"

"C.C…"

"I've wished that for a long time now, but it never seems to come true any time soon," C.C. said, letting out a sad chuckle.

"By any chance, does that happiness have anything to do with the aristocrats?" Lelouch said, deciding now was the best time to ask about whatever it was that she's not telling him.

C.C. just looked down stonily at him like he'd gone out of his mind.

"Well, it's that," he explained, shifting uncomfortably in his spot. "You don't seem to like the aristocrat much, so I assume if you _were _one, you could be happy." _And if that's the case, I can totally make it happen._

"Hm, how thoughtful of you. But no, it's much more like the opposite. Being an aristocrat is the last thing on my mind," she answered, and her tone was so cold and razor-sharp that it made Lelouch wonder if it were a mistake bringing up this subject.

But before he could change the topic, C.C. continued, tauntingly. "However, it was a wonder that you didn't refer to aristocrats as 'my kind'".

Lelouch made a dignity's huff. "I hope that said something."

"I wonder what it is," C.C. said in her faux sweet voice.

"That I'm different now. More different than the other typical aristocrats, at least."

C.C. smiled softly, and involuntarily, she let her slender fingers dance in his raven, beautiful locks. Her gentle touch sent immediate relaxing sensation to Lelouch – a feeling he hadn't experienced before with any other girls – so he allowed his eye-lids to close and enjoyed it with a small smile crossed his face. _You've proven yourself much, Lelouch… but I can't quite trust you just yet, _C.C. thought sadly, but she decided not to voice those. Instead, she said. "Tell me this Lelouch. Why would you to such lengths to please a girl, a common girl like me?"

"Because you are special. A one of a kind." Lelouch answered smoothly as if he'd been prepared for a long time for this question of hers. Just because he wasn't surprised by it didn't mean that she wasn't by his answer either.

"Lelouch, you…."

"I don't know why," he continued, appearing not to have heard her. "But you are very intriguing. Unlike all the girls I've met, you didn't prove to be boring and plain just after the first meeting. That's why I wanted to keep getting to know you. And the fact that you have this deep hatred for aristocrats." He gave a chuckle and went on. "Normally I should be pretty upset, but somehow I can't do that with you. Hm, come to think of it. Maybe you _did_ cast a spell on me." He finished, looking up at her with loving violet orbs.

"Are you implying that I'm a witch for doing so?" Now it was her turn to chuckle.

He nodded, laughing.

"If I'm a witch, then what _are _you?" C.C. asked. "It should be on the same demonic level."

Lelouch closed his eyes. "I'll be a warlock."

"How charming."

"Well that's the only reasonable answer right? Besides if you weren't a witch to begin with, then how can I tolerate your stubbornness, your huge, unreasonable obsession for pizza, your slyness, your coldness, and many more?" He said challengingly.

C.C. let out small laugh. "I guess it makes sense then."

"Exactly," he replied triumphantly.

There was a pause as both of the young teens were looking straight ahead at a family who sat under another sakura tree, just across from them. They seemed to be very happy and enjoying the whole refreshing atmosphere of the park at this hour; the wife's sitting with her head against her husband's shoulder as her hand was intertwined with his. Their little girl ran up to them and jumped into her mom's lap, wrapping her small arms around the older woman's neck. A cheery smile never faltered from her face.

C.C. felt like an incredibly sharp knife was stabbed through her heart. She flinched slightly.

"What's wrong C.C.?" Lelouch asked.

Instead of answering his question, C.C. said, "You know, Lelouch. Everything that you've just said, it was quite touching and smooth. So I've been wondering if you had said the same thing to your first love."

"Jealous?"

"Not at all. A girl can get curious."

"Well, you see…" Lelouch started_. Wait. What? First love? Where did she get that?_

"Where did you get that 'first love' from?" Lelouch asked, puzzled.

C.C. gave a chuckle. "You mean you forgot? Remember when we met the second time in front of Pizza Hut, and I asked if you got some experiences with girls before, and you said yes."

"That doesn't mean I had a first love." Lelouch gasped.

"It sounded like it." C.C. said amusedly.

"You know better."

The green-haired girl couldn't help chuckling. Really, his actions sometimes seemed very childish, especially when it came to love and feelings and stuff. Wait, love…

"Are you telling me," C.C. continued. She could barely keep her amusement and slyness down any longer. "That you're still a virgin Lelouch?"

"C.C.!" He yelled with full surprise. His face had now officially obtained a deep shade of red, and he was trying desperately to change the subject. But it was no help at all; all of his thoughts were, at the moment, entangled like a big jungle of trees. And all he could offer was utter speechlessness.

"So it's a 'yes'." C.C. remarked amusedly. A smile crept up her face as she saw how embarrassed he'd become at the mention of this. It was quite rare_ and_ entertaining seeing him like this, actually.

"Drop it, C.C." He mumbled, trying his best to avoid eye-contact with her.

"I'm flattered, actually," C.C. said. Her voice suddenly had returned to its rare gentleness. "That the first love of an aristocrat is a common girl."

"Is that supposed to be sarcastic?"

"Not at all."

"Really C.C.?" Lelouch asked as if he needed to recheck what he'd heard.

C.C. nodded slowly.

"I'm glad," he said at last, feeling relieved more than ever. He'd feared that she'd reject him, since it was in her nature to despise the higher classes.

C.C. let a smile cross her face again as she gently played with his soft, raven locks. Maybe her heart was becoming warmer after all.

"So," Lelouch began, clearing his throat. "This is our, er, first date right?"

"First date," C.C. repeated, her fingers never stopped their little dance. "I thought you said this was just our first _day-out_."

"Yeah. But after all of this, you would think…" He trailed off. This was really getting _too _embarrassing. And of course, C.C. was _not _helping the matter at all.

C.C. smirked knowingly. She decided that it's time she put an end to her little amusement, as well as her little 'torture' on this poor boy.

"Ahh. It's our first date, Lelouch." She said.

Lelouch breathed in a sigh of relief, and nodded. He slowly closed his eyes and let a genuinely happy smile creep up his face.

"By the way C.C.," he said. "I love the way you dress today."

Now it was _her _turn to blush a light shade of red. She wasn't wearing anything incredibly attractive or expensive or exclusive that would immediately catch the eye of an aristocrat. Today, she just put on a white sleeveless shirt, a red skirt with dark purple stripes, white high-knee socks, and eden black shoes. For her long, silky green hair, C.C. decided that a light red head band would suffice. And that was all.

"I see," C.C. said as she never ceased stroking his soft, raven hair.

The wind had picked up its gentle blow again.

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**A/N: **I didn't want to reveal the gender of the mysterious person in this chapter yet, because I wanted it to be a surprise for you guys. So at this moment, we should call that person _that _person lol. But do any of you want to give it a guess as to who it might be? :)

Personally, I think this chapter is quite cute since it contains some lovey-dovey scenes between Lelouch and C.C., that's why so far, this is my favorite work lol. Alrighty then, I hope you guys enjoyed this, and thainks for reading!


	6. Resentment

Thank you for the reviews. They make me really happy and warm inside.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

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"Ano…Kallen….are you sure about this?" Asked a timid voice.

"Yes. If not, then what do you think we're doing here?" Snapped a harsh voice.

"But what if _he _found out? What if-"

"You're talking 'what-if' here, Shirley."

"But-"

"No but's, let's come in."

"But I'm scared!"

A pause.

"That's why I'm here, correct? I know you couldn't handle this by yourself."

"So we're really going to do this?"

"Of course! You're wasting our time here, Shirley!"

Shirley flinched slightly at her friend's reaction.

A sigh. "Come on, let's just go in."

Then the two girls made their ways quietly towards the Pizza Hut.

* * *

"Thank you so much," said C.C. as she handed the large box of pizza to the customer.

The shop seemed pretty lively lately. More and more customers came in everyday, and this time there weren't just the commoners, but the aristocrats as well. Though the latter's number was still nowhere to be compared to the former's. However, this was a big change; before the aristocrats rarely came visit this Pizza Hut – _rarely _was a nice word, but the one most appropriate in this case was _never_ – So seeing it progressing and getting well-known like this was a huge change. The manager was happy, that meant C.C. got paid more and her limitation of pizza per day was extended as well.

_Lelouch really did keep his promise, didn't he? _Thought C.C. as a smirk crept up her face.

"Thank you. Please come again," she said as another box was delivered to the next customer in line.

"C.C.! Combo Pizza is done!" Called the manager from the kitchen. It seemed that the shop had become so crowded all of a sudden that its manager had to lend a hand.

"Coming!" C.C. shouted from the front.

And it went on like that for the whole morning.

When the clock chimed twelve in the afternoon, things changed.

As C.C. was checking the list of pizza deliveries and taking notes, two females came up the register. One quick glance up put two words in C.C.'s mind: Gorgeous Aristocrats.

It wasn't like this was the first time she'd ever seen high-class people. In fact, she'd seen so many that she found them unappealing. Even the expensive-dressed ones couldn't catch her eyes easily.

However, these two, they looked different. Their outfits were just like those of any typical aristocratic girl in this season: sleeveless sundresses, white or colorful high heels that matched their beautiful dresses, and many golden bracelets, rings wrapped themselves around their small wrists and fingers. They looked typical yet so extraordinarily beautiful at the same time. C.C. thought the real reason for it was because of their delicate features and nice-colored, silky hairs.

_Hm, the colors look natural, _C.C. thought. _Funny, who am I to say such thing? Anyone who takes a look at my hair will immediately think I dyed it._

"How may I help you?" C.C. asked.

"You're C.C., aren't you?" Said the short, red-haired girl dressed in the yellow sundress sharply.

C.C. looked down at her name tag, wondering if it'd become too dirty that hardly anyone could read it.

She nodded. "Yes."

"Like I thought," smirked the girl. "You're exactly what he described. Too pretty for a commoner, in fact."

C.C. raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"But don't you think that's enough to charm a high-class person, you worm."

"Ka-Kallen," whispered the second girl who dressed in dark-green sundress and had long, silky orange hair down to the small of her back.

_You worm, _C.C. thought dazedly. She could feel her face getting hot with the knowledge that there were still plenty of people in the shop, whom had stopped their eating process and watched the scene in front of them with interest.

"What are you talking ab-" C.C. began.

The girl named Kallen waved her hand at C.C. casually, cutting off her sentence. "Don't play dumb, you know full well who we're referring to."

"No, I don't." C.C. answered coldly.

"Damnit! It's Lelouch! Ring a bell?"

Time seemed to stop for the green-haired girl. _Lelouch….could this be…._

"Kallen, that's enough. Everyone's watching," whispered the orange-haired girl, tugging on her friend's arm.

Kallen yanked her arm off violently. "What's the matter with you, Shirley? Didn't you want to confront her? Didn't you want to settle this matter once and for all? We didn't come here just for this." She said angrily.

The girl named Shirley flinched slightly at her friend's outburst and quickly started playing with her long strand of hair. Her eyes downcast.

Kallen huffed and turned back to C.C., who managed to maintain a cool, collected face, and said. "Listen you wormy commoner. We don't know what kind of potion you used on _our _Lelouch, but your wicked, silly game has to stop now. You have no right to be with him, you know full well of that. No commoner can be married to aristocrat, that's the rule. What you're doing is a disgrace!"

C.C. was too stunned and dizzy to think of some kind of a comeback. She knew that. She was aware of the situation she and Lelouch were in. She knew this would never last. She knew their relationship would end someday, and forever. She knew all of that but still, her heart was too stubborn to accept that cruel fact. And now it had come down to this…

"Heh, nothing to say?" taunted Kallen as she crossed her arms over her chest. An evil smirk crept up her face. "I guess you knew this would happen huh? That doesn't matter. We didn't come here to knock some sense into you. We came to tell you to put an end to your little game, and let go of him!"

Everything was quiet after she finished that last sentence. So eerily quiet.

C.C. didn't realize her hands were balled in a fist the entire time she was listening. Her head had gone miles per minute. What should she do? Could she punch this rude, annoying customer in the face? Could she slap her hard? Could she tackle her to the ground and strangle her? Could she stab her chest with the ballpoint pen that was lying conveniently on the desk? Could she-

"Oi! Don't give me that blank face of yours! At least say something!" Kallen growled.

If C.C. did, then wouldn't it mean she's being obedient to the aristocrat?

But she had some questions that needed answers.

"Lelouch told you everything about me? About this place too?" C.C. asked, trying to maintain the calmness in her voice.

A sly, evil smirk crept up Kallen's face. "You bet he did," she replied, "we're close friends after all, of course he'd tell me anything."

"That isn't like him," C.C. said, shaking her head slightly.

"How can you be so sure?" Kallen challenged.

"Because I know him…" answered C.C. slowly. She recalled the talk they had had yesterday. The heartfelt conversation on their first date. It seemed so real, and from what she'd heard and seen, she knew he would never do this.

_Lelouch has to be aware of the situation that we're in if he truly loves me, there's no way he would go and tell his friends about us, _thought C.C.

A snort came from the red-haired girl as she said. "You know him? Really? For how long? A week maybe? How funny, that isn't enough. _I _have known him for as long as I can remember. Do you really think you would understand what's going on his mind?"

C.C. really had no answers to that.

"Let me tell you." Kallen began. "He only loves three persons in this whole wide world. Three only. He may like you, because he's never had a commoner as a friend before, thus he found you interesting. But that never lasts long. _You _may be in love with him, but he isn't. Lelouch's a complicated guy; he wants to have as many friends as he can, because that's simply his lifestyle. From his perspective, you are just a friend to him. A normal friend, that's all."

C.C. felt as though her head were spinning around on its own; she had trouble comprehending what this red-haired aristocrat was saying. Her visions, all of a sudden, became quite blurry and she had to blink to get a clearer view.

She then shook her head, saying. "No, you're lying…"

"Why would I lie to you about such thing?" Asked Kallen, raising one delicate eyebrow.

"Because he lov-" She bit back her tongue as the word 'love' was staring to form. She was going to say 'because he loves me' but did he really?

_Does he love me? _C.C. asked herself mentally.

It's like a neutral question. He had never confirmed his love to her himself, and he hadn't denied it either. He did say she was his first love, yet he didn't say he was in love with her. Those two were completely different things.

To make matters worse, he even admitted that he had many experiences with girls before.

That thought struck her harder than anything else she had encountered in her life so far.

C.C. felt dizzy all of a sudden.

"So, you have realized," a harsh voice sounded again, "that he doesn't love you. I hope that is enough proof for you. Like I say, he likes to have many friends, but he only loves three people in the world. Want me to name them?"

C.C. didn't answer; she knew she wasn't on the list. So why bother knowing?

Kallen took her silence for a 'yes' and went on. "The first person is his graceful mother. Second is his adorable little sister, and the third, as well as last, is…"

She pointed her long finger toward the orange-haired girl, who hadn't said anything since she came in here. "His beautiful girlfriend, Shirley."

C.C. looked at the person she was pointing to and felt as though her cold heart were shattering truly for the first time.

Shirley was indeed a very beautiful girl. Her straight orange-colored hair cascaded down to the small of her back, glittering in the sunlight. Her face was pretty and gentle. The soft, white skin added to her delicate features. Her eyes were bright green and deep as though she had many experiences in life. And her clothes, the typical sundress like any other rich people wore. However, it looked so extraordinarily dazzlingly beautiful on her.

And she was also Lelouch's best friend. Compared to this girl, C.C. was really nothing. Just a mere commoner, who had only known him since last week.

C.C. couldn't help smirking bitterly. She had been too confident in herself, thinking she had won his heart, but that hope was just too high for someone like her to reach.

Compared to Shirley, she was indeed nothing.

"That's the reason why we came here," Kallen said again, sounding very nonchalant. "It's obvious that Lelouch doesn't have any feelings that related to love towards you. But it's _you _we should be worried about. Your obsession with him may cause my friend troubles, and I want them to have a happy life together, without any obstacles."

C.C. really hated herself for opening her heart to someone she knew she shouldn't trust. It's natural for the aristocrats to have many girls around them. She knew that, so why did she fall for this?

Someone was clearing their throat, then said. "I-I think we should get going, Kallen." It was Shirley's soft voice.

The red-haired girl, still arms crossed, leaned a bit closer to C.C. and whispered. "So withdraw, you hear me?"

C.C. had lost this battle. All she could offer was silence.

And her silence was taken as an agreement, for Kallen smiled satisfactorily as she took a few steps back. "I'm glad we've come to the same conclusion."

Then, they walked out of the shop. Just like that, and they were gone.

After that, everything was so quiet and looked normal as if none of this just happened. As if the presence of two aristocratic girls had never been there.

C.C. felt like the world was crumpling down, crashing on her.

She felt completely miserable.

She had to put her hands on the desk to support her, or else she'd slide to the ground.

She wished she had the courage and strength to talk back, or at least slap that little devil for calling her a wormy commoner. But she knew it was useless; that wouldn't solve anything.

C.C. closed her eyes, trying to gather all her thoughts. Would she see those two again? What would happen if she _did _see them one day? Would it result in a deadly fight? _No_, C.C. thought, shaking her head slightly. _That's not important right now. The main problem here is Lelouch. How could I be stupid enough to fall in love with guy like that?_

"C.C.?" A familiar voice sounded from behind her. C.C. slowly turned around and met with her manager, who looked indifferent. However, there was something in his blue eyes that showed concern for her.

C.C. didn't feel like replying. Her silence, somehow, suggested him to continue saying whatever was on his mind.

The manager took a step closer, and shoved a small handkerchief into C.C.'s balled hands. "Go home, C.C."

That was when she felt a pain rushing through her body. She didn't realize her long nails were digging in her flesh the entire time, allowing blood to drip down freely.

C.C. took it thankfully and cleaned the wounds. Then a thought occurred to her.

"Are you firing me?" She asked. Her voice shook a bit.

He shook his head gently. "No. You need to rest." He said simply.

C.C. stared at him with bewilderment. Never before had she seen him worry about an employee before, so this totally caught her off guard.

"This isn't like you."

"Well, as you can see. I sort of promised Mister Lamperouge that I'd take care of you…." He trailed off as he saw her hardened expression.

_Lelouch wanted to take care of me huh?_ C.C. thought bitterly. _Isnt' that a bit too much for a guy who already has a girlfriend?_

"Just go home and get some rest C.C. I'll take care of everything from here." The manager continued.

This wasn't the time to argue. C.C. could feel her head throbbing, all her nerves cracking, dizziness had come back once again. She really needed to get to bed, lest she will collapse.

C.C. nodded wearily and started for the kitchen. When she walked past her manager, she heard him say in a low voice, very quickly. "Thank you for didn't do anything."

* * *

**A/N: **The mysterious person that was mentioned in the last chapter will appear in the next one. Any last guess regarding their identity?

I've nothing against Kallen, and I'm sorry for making her character so mean and rude in this chapter, but I can't think of anyone else to do this. In my mind, Kallen is the most suited for the role. I also believe I didn't do a very good job at portraying C.C.'s reaction. As a matter of fact, I think I made her seem rather weak, comparing to the scene in anime where she reacted coldly and confidently to one of the Black Knights, but I've tried my best...

Like always, thanks for reading! And reviews are pretty much appreciated!


	7. Forgotten Memories

Thank you for the reviews!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

**

* * *

-**_OoOoOoO-_

_'_

_'  
_

_(5-6 years ago)_

_The little girl's eyes popped open as she heard someone shouting from the kitchen. It sounded so clear and loud. And at this hour? She recognized one voice belonged to her mother while the other belonged to someone else she had never heard of before. Or had she?_

"_What do you mean you're moving?" Screeched her mother._

"_It's like what I just explained!" Shouted the man._

"_I don't believe you. How could you….How could you do this to me!" Whined the woman. It sounded like she was crying._

_A pause as a loud, exasperate sigh was heard. Then the sound of a chair scraping against the floor, coming to a stop after a few seconds._

"_Listen-" the man said._

"_Don't touch me!" Snapped her mother. Her voice croaked._

_A silence._

"_You've got to be reasonable here." The man tried again._

_This finally aroused the little girl's interest. She quickly pulled off the blanket and skipped quietly towards the door to her bedroom. Then opening the door big enough just for one of her eyes to see, she silently observed what was happening in front of her. Of course unbeknownst to the adults._

_Her mother seemed so weak at the moment. Tears were flowing down freely on her pink cheeks as her small arms wrapped tightly around her slender frame. She was sitting in a kitchen chair, facing the living room, and she looked just like a beaten puppy that needed a lot of comforts and protections._

"_I said don't touch me!" She shouted again, pushing the man's hands away violently._

"_You can't go on like this!" Said the man impatiently. Though his voice was harsh and cold, worry, concern and hurt were evident in his tone._

"_Why would you even care? You're going to move away like none of this has ever happened!"_

"_Look at me! Do you really think I'm that cold? I love you, you know that."_

_The woman finally looked up from under her long bangs. Her eyes were all red and glassy from all the crying. But when she focused on his face, even more tears spilled out._

"_If you…if you love me. Then why didn't you divorce her?" The woman asked. Her voice all hoarse._

_The man brought up his right hand to run over his blond hair. A sigh escaped his lips. "You know it isn't possible. We've been through that-"_

"_No! You're lying! With your status, everything is possible!" The woman screamed again._

_But this time, her screams were cut short as the man quickly grabbed her arms and pulled her into an embrace, muffling all her cries and protests._

"_Be quiet. You're going to wake her up." He whispered softly into her hair._

_As if her mother suddenly remembered that they weren't alone in this house, she immediately stopped shouting. But that didn't mean she also stopped crying._

_She slowly and shakily brought up her arms to wrap them around the man's broad shoulder, letting tears drip down onto his white shirt. "Your wife found out?" She asked quietly._

_A short hesitation. Then the man answered, "No. But it's safe to end this before things get worse."_

_Her mother shook her head violently. "I don't understand what you're saying. We could've run away, and start all over again."_

"_Yes," she continued, sounding pretty much on the verge of hysterical. "We should do that. Let's run away together. We can bring her with us and start a new life-"_

"_Please be reasonable. I love you, but we just can't do that," said the man as he pressed her small frame further against his. His voice shook a bit._

_The woman closed her sky-blue eyes. _

_The Grand Clock chimed nine at night. And that was the only sound audible in the whole house._

"_If I didn't move with my family. My wife will find out about this eventually, and your life will be put in danger. You know full well of the law, so please don't ask me to do the impossible." The man continued in a low voice._

_The little girl had to strain her ears to be able to hear what he's saying._

_He went on. "But don't worry. I'll be back sometimes to visit you and her. I won't abandon both of you, that's a promise. I shall come back when there's an opportunity so please hang in there-"_

"_You won't do it, will you?" Asked the woman. She sounded all strong all of sudden, as if she hadn't shed a tear earlier._

"_Do what?"_

"_Give up your status."_

_The man looked taken aback by her statement. He gently grabbed her shoulder and slowly pushed her away. Then their gazes locked. None of them bothered saying anything to save the uncomfortable silence as they kept staring at each other._

_After a few minutes, he replied softly. "It's nothing something I can decide."_

"_Yes it is," the woman retorted as she pushed his hands away and stood up. Her long, wavy green hair almost touched the ground as she did so. Using one hand to push a few strands of hair away from her eyes, she continued. "I know what the law says, but if your love for me is strong enough, you'd be able to break it."_

"_Like I said, it's not possible to do that."_

"_Do you really think I'd wait around for you to come back? Only God knows if you're going to keep your promise."_

_The chair was pushed back violently, to the point it almost toppled over as the man also stood up, facing the woman._

"_How long have we been together?" He asked angrily. "How many times have you seen me break my own promises? Answer me damnit!"_

_The woman only looked on coldly as she replied. Her voice was no longer weak and shaky. "Those were trivia matters." Then she made a snort as some forgotten memories had made its way back. "How funny. Did you always keep your promises? I believe you should recheck that list." Her tone was full of sarcasm._

"_What are you talking about?" The man growled. His soft golden eyes just now suddenly hardened. If gaze could kill, he was doing an incredibly good job. "I've kept all of them as far as I know, so what you're saying makes no sense at all!"_

"_Really?" Smirked the woman bitterly. "Don't you remember what you've said six years ago? That you would never abandon us, never leave us alone in the darkness, dear?" Her last word was as sharp as a razor blade, and sounded as much forceful._

_Needless to say, the man looked taken aback immediately. He then looked down and suddenly developed an interest in the woodened floor beneath him. The long bangs covering his eyes entirely._

_And the little girl understood right away. If he couldn't keep that promise, then how was he able to keep the one he just made with her mother? Comparing those two together, the latter was three-times harder to keep. _

_He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as if he contemplated the situation. Her mother remained motionless and silent._

_Finally, he broke the silence. "Why are you doing this?"_

_She didn't answer._

"_Why are you doing this?" He asked again, pressing each word._

_She slowly closed her eyes and heaved a small sigh. "Because I'm tired," she said truthfully._

"_I want to settle this once and for all. I don't want to do this behind people's back anymore. I'm tired of running away, of hiding from your family. I-I just want a happy life for our daughter."_

"_Oh honey," the man said as he took few steps closer. His arms wide open as if he were inviting her to come, but she put her hand up. _

"_I'm sorry. But it's you who's making things harder than they are." She then looked sideways. Tears sprung to her eyes once again. "Maybe…maybe we should end this." She finished slowly in a croaked voice._

_The atmosphere became extraordinarily quiet after that, and the only audible sounds in the whole house were the breathings of three people._

"_Isn't that what you want?" She asked sadly, her voice all low and shaky._

_The man didn't answer as he, too, looked away. For the first time, the little girl had witnessed a man's pair of sad eyes. They were so depressing and it seemed as though all the liveliness had gone out of them._

_Then without warning, he quickly stepped forward and grabbed the slender-figured woman's shoulders, pulling her into a protective and tight embrace, as if he were afraid she's going to vanish into thin air any moment._

_She let out a surprised gasp, but was silenced immediately as his moisture lips pressed hungrily on hers. In that moment, there's nothing else for the woman to do, except returning the kiss as passionate as she could. Tears never ceased flowing down her rosy cheeks._

_Her arms brought up to wrap around the man's shoulder. The man she had loved so much. The man she'd given up everything for. The man who would soon be walking out of her life, and never return. All of this would be just like a wondrous dream for her – the one she knew she would never be able to have again once she woke up._

_As quickly as the kiss started, it came to an abrupt end. His strong hands left her small shoulders before she even realized it. His warm body pulled away from hers before she took notice of it. And just like that, he walked away. The woman behind him stood motionless, soundless._

_A small gasp escaped the little girl's lips as she saw him coming closer to her bedroom. She hastily let go of the door and ran back toward her bed, pulling the covers up over her chin, waiting._

_The footsteps suddenly came to a halt in front of her door, and she shut her eyes tightly, pretending to be asleep. However, her insides were churning with both excitement and anticipation. Would he open the door so she could see his face clearly for the first time? Would he come bid her good night? Those thoughts were running around widely in her head, refusing to stop._

_But everything was not what she had expected at all. The footsteps quickly resumed its pace and soon after that, they were out of earshot as the main door slammed shut._

_The little girl lied there, eyes wide open, temporarily not understanding what's going on. From what she'd witnessed tonight, it seemed very likely that this would be the last time she'd ever hear from him, so why didn't he say anything to her? Or rather, let her see his face clearly for the first time?_

_She shook her head. She did see his face before, when she was very young, as a toddler. But he didn't come to play with her quite often. Only twice a week, and as she got older, the times he frequented would decrease to once a week, or thrice a month. And at such a young age, of course she wouldn't be able to take in his appearances very well. His voice was the only thing she remembered clearly, everything else was just a blur._

_That's when she heard someone whimper. A very low sob at first, but then the volume increased and a loud, heartbroken cry was made. Followed after that was a sound of someone sliding slowly to the ground. The miserable cries never ceased._

_Her mother had broken down entirely._

_So did the little girl. She could feel her cheeks getting hot as tears made their way freely downwards._

_They were on their own from now on._

_..._

_(5 months later)_

"_Mommy! Are you ready yet?" Called the girl as she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled satisfactorily._

_They were going to her mother's favorite place today. A place where they didn't get the chance to visit often because of work and busy schedules. But now, her mother had finally gotten some days off, and they both voted to go there, so off they went._

_No answers from the woman._

_A frown quickly made its way up the girl's face. She gave herself one quick, last look, then turned around and jogged towards her mother's bedroom, humming a childish song she just learned from television._

"_Come on mommy. We should get going now or we'll be late."_

_Still no answer._

_She reached up her small hand to touch the doorknob and opened it. Even before the door was open completely, the strong smell of alcohol hit right at her face, causing her to stop in her tracks as she wrinkled her nose._

_Not again, she thought._

"_Mommy, you promised not to drink again," she said, stepping into the reeking room. _

_There, sitting at the work desk was her tired-looking mother. Her usually beautiful, long and curly green hair was now disheveled. She was already dressed in her light-blue dress, which matched her pretty, bright-blue eyes. But even the nice-looking clothes couldn't hide the fact that she was quite stressful and all worn-out.  
_

_The girl came forward to stand in front of her mother, who looked up with weary eyes._

"_You promised not to drink again," she said again._

_The woman looked about her as if she'd forgotten where she was. She then turned her attention back to her daughter. A sad smile crossed her face. "Oh honey, I'm sorry. I haven't been drinking for decades."_

"_That was last week mom," the girl heaved a small sigh. "Never mind. Do you think you can drive or we can go othe-"_

"_No," her mom waved at her, cutting off her sentences. "I've only drunk a little. I'm sure I can handle driving. Besides, we can use some fresh air now." She chuckled._

_The girl's golden orbs lighted up as she heard that. She quickly grabbed the bottles on the desk and dumped them into the trash can located beside it. A yelp was heard from her mother. "Honey, what are you doing?" She asked, staring at her daughter._

"_This is enough alcohol for you," she stated firmly._

"_The way you said it, it reminds me of…" her mother trailed off as she looked away, toward the window._

_The little girl knew who she was referring to, and she definitely didn't want to bring up that subject. Ever.  
_

"_Ok, let's go, mom." She said cheerfully, grabbing her mother's arms and pulling her to her feet._

_The woman smiled, bringing up one of her hands to smooth out her hair, and nodded. "Alright."_

_..._

"_Oh! It's so beautiful!" Exclaimed the girl with arms wide open as she looked up at the big, old sakura tree. _

_The last time she'd been here was two years ago, on her fourth birthday, with her mother and father. Those memories were so far away now, and no matter what she did, she could never get back to those old, happy days again._

_This time, it was in the autumn season. On no particular occasion._

"_Look mommy. The petals are falling! So pretty." Cried the girl in happiness._

_She quickly held out her hands and fell in them were the delicate pink and white sakura petals._

_A bright smile crept up her childish face._

_And for the first time, her mother was smiling too. A genuinely happy smile._

"_Ahh. Isn't it beautiful?" And she, too, held out her hands to collect the falling light petals. She felt at peace all of a sudden._

_The woman gently picked up one of the pink petals, walked up to her daughter and put it in her hair. She then stepped back and took in the delightful image: A child at an age of 6, with bright golden eyes looking at her, filled with excitement. Her straight green hair flowing behind her with the sakura petal behind her right ear._

"_You look beautiful," her mother said after a while. The smile never faltered from her face._

_The girl brought up her hands to touch her new 'hair accessory' and laughed. "You could be a hair-dresser mom."_

_"We'll see about that." Her mother chuckled. _

_Then they both spent the afternoon under the huge, protective sakura tree. Playing, laughing and talking with each other like there was no tomorrow. It wasn't so often that they would get the chance to have those joyous moments, since her mother was always busy at work; she'd have to leave the house an hour before her daughter woke up, and got home two hours after she already went to bed. Thus, today was a special day. A day where mother and daughter got the chance to tell each other what kinds of activities they did at work and school, and shared cheerful moments.  
_

_A very special, joyous day indeed._

_When the clock chimed five in the evening, the little girl stood up from their lying spots and said. "Mommy, I'm hungry."_

"_Hungry? But you just ate two hours ago." _

"_I know. But somehow I feel like I'm not full. Oh I know! Let's go get some pizza."_

_Her mother chuckled, "You really have a thing for those flatbreads don't you? When I saw your brightened face at your first try, I knew it immediately."_

_The girl grinned, baring her white teeth. "You got it mom."_

_The woman shook her head, laughing as she stood up. "Alright. Lucky for you, there's a new shop near here that just opened up a couple of weeks ago. I think we can go there."_

"_By car?"_

"_Hm, I think so. It's not pretty far, but it's best that we drive. It's getting dark anyway."_

"_Then it settles." Smiled the little girl as she pulled on her mother's arm. "Let's go, mom. I'm starving!"_

_The woman let out another laugh, and it delighted the girl so much. To find her mother be this joyful everyday was quite a very rare thing. Especially after her father left._

_However, as soon as the woman took a step forward, she staggered, and almost fell to the ground had it not been for her daughter catching her. "Mom!" Said the girl in surprise._

_The woman clutched at her daughter's small arms as if her life depended on it. She felt dizzy all of a sudden, as though her head kept spinning around nonstop. Her eyes shut tight._

"_Mom, are you ok?" Asked the girl worriedly._

"_Yeah. I'm fine. Probably from lacking sleep…" she replied wearily._

"_If you're not well, we don't have to go to Pizza Hut."_

_Her mother looked up at her, and her eyes showed something akin to gratitude. "I'm sorry, honey. Maybe next time."_

_The little girl nodded knowingly. "It's ok, mom. Come on, I'll help you get to the car."_

"_Thank you, darling." Whispered her mother. Her voice sounded all weak, as if the life were being sucked out of her very slowly._

_No longer being able to hold it in, the girl asked the question that was always wandering in her mind. "Why are you staying single like this?"_

"_Hm?"_

"_You've got a lot of men following you. They all wished for us to start over with them; they wanted you to be happy, but you drove them all away. Why mom? Why?"_

_A silence, and the girl felt like crying. She could feel tears springing to her eyes, ready to spill out._

"_You know honey," her mother began, "love is the strangest thing. Once you have your heart stolen, it's impossible to get it back and move on."_

"_But he doesn't care for us," she was on the verge of screaming, the knowledge that she was in the park with so many people was temporarily forgotten. "He hasn't come back ever since. He abandoned us. He made you suffer!" She finally broke down to tears. "And I don't want you to be hurt anymore."_

_A warm hand touched her soft skin, wiping the stubborn tears away. "That's the pain I knew I would be facing when I agreed to date your father. But darling, love is sometimes very hard to understand. Once your heart wants something, you have no choice but to follow it."_

"_But mom-"_

"_You will understand that one day, when you grow up and be a pretty, intelligent young lady. You will know when love strikes." Her mother said softly. A small smile crossed her gentle face._

"_Mom…" Tears kept streaming down the little girl's rosy cheeks. She didn't understand what her mother's saying._

"_Look, our car is here," her mom said, pulling herself away from her daughter slowly. She then unlocked the doors and gestured for her to get in._

"_Now, now. Don't cry. You're a big girl now, remember?" Her mother asked teasingly, using her handkerchief to wipe the tears away. "A mature person never cries as much over trivia matters."_

"_I-I'm not crying." The girl retorted as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands, turning away from her mother._

"_That's my girl," smirked the woman._

_She turned on the engine and pulled the car out of the parking lot._

_But before she drove home, she turned to her daughter and touched her wet face with her right hand. "Remember this baby. If love didn't go the way you wished for it to in the future, always keep this in mind: Past is past. Nothing can be changed or undone, so rather than spending your time on worrying about it, learn from your mistakes and live happily. Don't be like me, ok? Promise?" She then held out her pinkie, smiling slightly._

_The girl stared at it for a few moments. The advice seemed sort of meaningless to her, because she could hardly understand its true meaning, but she took it deep within the corridor of memories in her mind, and wound her own pinkie with her mother's. "Promise," she said, nodded._

_The smile on the woman's face widened. "That's my girl."_

_..._

"_Who's survived?"_

"_A little girl, seemingly six years old."_

_"How about the drivers?"_

_"Both of them are dead. One was a male truck driver, and the other was a middle-aged woman."_

_"A bug and a truck collide?"_

"_Yes."_

"_I'm surprised that there's someone surviving. These collides are the toughest."_

_"Me too. What a miracle that the girl was totally unharmed. However, her mother's body tore up pretty badly. Looks like she used it to cover her daughter's at the last minute."_

"_Where is she now?"_

"_Over there. By the emergencies truck."_

_Footsteps approaching._

"_Hey little girl, how are you feeling?"_

"…_."_

_"Listen. I know it must be very tough on you, and it's best if you let it all out. Have you cried yet? You don't look like you did."_

"…_."_

"_Holding it in would be worse, trust me. So please let me help you."_

"…_."_

"_It's alright if you don't want to talk now. We will have plenty of time at the hospital when you're recovering. Remember I will always be there for yo-"_

"_I want to go home."_

_A pause._

"_I-I'm sorry?"_

"_I'm fine, can't you see? I'm not hurt at all, and I want to go home."_

"_But who will you be staying with? Where's your father?"_

"_I don't have one."_

_Another pause._

"_No relatives?"_

"_No."_

"_Alright, please at least tell me your name."_

_When the girl looked up, her golden eyes were too cold for a six-year-old that it practically made the police officer take a step back involuntarily. "I'm C.C."_

_And that when she realized something: None of her parents bothered saying goodbyes to her before they left her all alone in the darkness._

_

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_**A/N: **I don't know about you, but I felt like crying when writing this chapter T.T This is the first time I've ever written something like this, it's soo sad. When I was halfway, I was about to give up and turn this to another less depressed direction, but then it wouldn't explain quite clearly as to why C.C. became cold and had this deep hatred for the aristocrats. So I had no choice but to continue it.

Alright, enough of my babblings, to the point: Lelouch will make an appearance in the next chapter again, and only TWO more chapters to go before this is over! Thank you those who have supported this story and hope you guys will see it to the end. Like always, thanks for reading and of course reviews will be loved so much :)


	8. Forgive or Forget?

Please read the A/N at the end.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

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_C.C…_

She stirred a little. _A voice… is calling me?_

_C.C…_

Another troubled stir. _Again?_

A light knock on the door followed. "C.C.?"

The golden orbs popped open immediately. The voice she was hearing apparently belonged to the last person she wanted to see right now.

Lelouch Lamperouge.

"C.C.? Are you in there?"

Grunting, she put the puffy pillow against her ears in a futile effort trying to shut the sounds out. "Why does he have to come now out of all time?" she murmured.

"Hey, what's the matter?" The knockings stopped, much to her relief. Just as she was about to let out a long, tired sigh, the doorknob turned.

"It's not locked? Well, I'm coming in."

_What the?_ She cursed under her breath as a memory suddenly crawled its way into her mind, reminding her that earlier this evening when she was in such an emotional upheaval, locking the door was the last thing on her mind. She reckoned that she was fortunate enough to _not _have a robber, burglar or worst, rapist tiptoe into her house while asleep.

"Why is it so dark in here? I can't see anything..." said Lelouch

"Where's the damned light switch?" Now, it sounded like he's talking to himself instead.

"Next to the kitchen door," suggested C.C. helpfully.

"You're here all along?" He queried, surprised.

"Just turn on the light, will you?"

Roaming his hands on the wall until he found the switch and flipped it on at once, and—

PUFF!

"What the?"

Lying on the woodened floor in front of his feet was a pure white puffy pillow that seemed to sail all the way from the room opposite from where he's standing; the master bedroom, in which its master was sitting very casually on the bed masked by an emotionless face, and in one of her hands was another 'weapon', a cheese-kun stuffed toy, large-sized.

"What are you-"

PUFF!

Another item was added onto the pile before him.

"Stop it! What are you doing?" This time, he managed to get the whole question out without being interrupted by her attack. It didn't last long. The next thing he wanted to ask was cut off when a new, bigger, puffier pillow landed on his face.

When it trailed down, he could only stare with widening eyes. "What in the world- Woah! Hold that."

C.C. was holding a thick-looking alarm clock that didn't seem to be made out of soft, non-damaging material at all. Rather, it was steel, hard steel, and she was aiming right at him.

"OK, whatever you have in mind, think it through," he said quickly as he fearfully took a step back. Who knew what that thing could have done to his beautiful face?

"Just calm down and-"

It sailed right past him. Exact one inch to the right and he'd be a goner. Slowly turning his head around in a stunning fashion to see the clock smash hard against the wall with such force that he had to gulp. It shattered into million pieces on the tiled floor. Lelouch slowly swirled his head back to stare at his 'assaulter'.

"Wha-"

"I hope you get the message," she remarked boredly.

"What _are_ you talking about? What _is_ this?"

C.C. scanned her room. "Let's see what other items I still possess…"

The door to her bedroom suddenly got swung open with such force that it almost sent her door flying from its hinge. She looked up, slightly startled.

Lelouch barged in and without wasting a second he jumped on the bed, pushing her down and pinning her wrists down on the mattress with his hands. "Enough," he growled.

She stared back at him, eyes unwavering. Lelouch really didn't expect her expression to change from stoic to shock either, so he wasn't caught off guard by her indifference.

First time she ever had a guy looming over her in bed while not even in a romantic mood. Interesting.

Their eye-contact was still held sternly. Well, if she wasn't going to say anything, he'd better make a move first.

"I need some answers to this, don't you think?" he said.

She blinked once. He went on, "Explain to me why, out of the blue, you decided to murder your boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" she chuckled. "I've never considered you as one."

He frowned. Confusion evident on his face, "What are you talking about? Didn't we already go on a date?"

She cocked her head slightly to one side. "I wouldn't call that a date. Ahh, even _you_ said that it's just a day-out between _friends."_

"I don't understand." He was really lost.

"Well, actually I'm glad that it was just that, because I'm a mere substitute whenever you're bored of your _real _girlfriend anyway."

Now he was _really _lost. He tilted his head to one side, eyebrow raising high to his hairline. "Substitute? My real girlfriend? Where did you get all of that?"

"Oh, you mean that was supposed to be a secret? Too bad boya, because I know everything now."

"Is messing with people's head one of your special abilities?"

This wasn't time for a joke because she didn't even so much as twist her lips. This wasn't time for some humors to fly around, this was business, real deal. She was really hurt. He could see it clearly in her golden eyes.

"C.C., what's going on?" he queried, letting go of her wrists and slowly sat up. So did she. She then wrapped her arms around her legs and put her chin on the knees, eyes not meeting his.

"C.C.," he said again.

"Why don't you go ask Shirley?"

_Shirley? What does Shirley have anything to do with this?_

"What do you mean 'ask Shirley'? Did you meet her?"

She looked away as if not wanting to recall the moments. After a long stretched minute, she turned back to him and replied in a cool voice. "Yes, I did, Lelouch. Thanks to her, I know your true personality now."

"Need I mention how lost I am right now?"

C.C. took a deep breath. "She told me she's been your childhood friend for as long as you two could remember and became your official girlfriend some time ago. She said you only befriended me because you have never had a commoner as friend before, but it'll never last because it's not the way it's meant to be."

All this time she was talking, her eyes were roving everywhere except his face.

A second passed, then a minute, then two. C.C. thought he must be very, extremely shocked to learn that she had already known too much about his nature and he could no longer be two-timing. That thought must have rendered the cheater speechless.

Then five minutes passed and he still didn't say anything. None of them did. The silence was growing uncomfortable and unbearable. Finally, it was her who looked up-

And stared directly into his indifferent face.

_That _really surprised her. She had anticipated anything and everything except that, of course. He was wearing an unreadable expression, so as much as she tried, she couldn't know what's going through his mind.

"Say something," she croaked, "anything. Don't stay silent like that."

"You actually believed what she said?"

Now that was not expected at all.

"You actually believed what she said," he repeated, stared right into her eyes. Though this time, it wasn't in question form but a statement instead.

"Why shouldn't I? After all, you're an aristocrat and I'm just a mere commoner. It will never work out!"

"How could you be sure?" he whispered.

Her eyes widened a little. "Because it never did," was her soft reply.

All of a sudden, without warning, he reached out his hand to grab hers and pulled her into a tight embrace. "You have to trust me, C.C. In this era, there's no such thing as love between aristocrat and commoner, that's why I need you to absolutely trust me," he said, burying his face into her shiny green locks.

"If such thing doesn't exist, why bother then?"

"Because it _has _to… for our sake."

"You're not making sense you know," she sighed, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. It was futile. The guy got quite strong when he was in an emotional state.

"You know it's not possible," she muttered, "many have tried and failed. It will never work." _Even my own parents._

He stayed silent. Then he spoke, "It may be the most difficult thing we'll ever do together, but as long as we're together, it's going to work out right?"

She closed her orbs. "You sound rather confident."

"Because everything will be fine. _I_'ll make it all work out."

"So what she said… it's not necessarily true?"

"Didn't I already tell you that so long as you're a witch, I'll be a warlock? And no one can claim your place because no one is as bewitching as you?"

She smiled against his shoulder. "You did, Lelouch."

It was then that he pushed her out slightly, hands still resting on her slim shoulders. "This deep resentment of the upper class, it has something to do with your past, am I right?"

"How did you figure it out?"

He chuckled, "It's quite obvious for someone who's as observant as me."

She rolled her eyes, "It's a long story,"

Lelouch smirked knowingly at her as he let go of her entirely and crawled toward the head of the bed, flopped down with his arms behind his head and a dazzling smile spread across his handsome features. "I've got all night."

"You're sure you're not going to miss your luxurious, comfortable bed?" she queried jokingly.

"Of course not," he huffed, "because you're going to provide me with all the comfort I need."

"What a warlock," she chuckled, crawling her way up next to him and lied down. He then pulled in her in, resting his head on her hair. "Let the story begin," he announced theatrically.

She snuggled close and closed her eyes, letting the memories engulf her once again. "Well, once upon a time…"

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**A/N: **Woah it must have been decades since I've last updated this story! Time sure goes by fast huh? Well, I don't think I really have any excuse for this extreme lateness so I guess we can settle down with me being a lazy bum? Yeah that could work lol. Anyway, thank you all for reading and reviewing this story, I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. And I'm sorry if this chapter is so short (you would expect when an author takes a long break, her next work will be long right? Not really in this case...), I was planning to add this to the previous one but it seemed rather long that way and I know when you open something up and it's frigging long, the first thing on your mind would be "Woah why is it so long? My eyes are going to hurt after reading this..." Aand you'd get bored easily too.

So yup, that's pretty much what I wanted to say. Hopefully, the next and last chapter will be up pretty soon and wouldn't take decades lol, but I can't really make any promises... Anyway, thanks again for reading and reviewing guys!


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